India-based branchless banking network PayNearby has launched PayNearby Mall, a meta-commerce platform, to facilitate access to goods and services. The new PayNearby Mall platform is addressed to local sellers, merchants, and ecommerce  platforms that cater to customers within both local and national Indian markets.

The platform intends to create a virtual space where merchants can extend their market coverage. Customers can access the service by going to a local shop and getting help from retailers to browse through the services and products available. By matching the demands of the customers with the offerings of the merchants, PayNearby Mall aims to stimulate the local economy and foster economic growth and development in the country.

After its launch, over 6,000 retailers opted to be integrated in the PayNearby Mall, and over 100 retailers have already placed more than 250 orders. The future ONCD integration News of the launch of the PayNearby Mall platform came at the same time as the announcement that the platform will be integrated with the ONDC (the Open Network for Digital Commerce), the non-profit company backed by the Indian government in an attempt to further enhance open ecommerce in India. Ever since the news of its development, the ONCD was praised for its commitment to create a fair commerce environment for small businesses.

The integration is said to be part of an effort to allow all retailers across the platform to have access to the benefits associated with being part of a revolutionised digital commerce space in India. The decision will thus act as a way to level the playing field for small businesses that would, otherwise, have difficulties gaining access to this opportunity. The interest in developing platforms such as ONCD was determined by a surge in the number of online shoppers in India.

Over the past three years, the country gained 125 million new shoppers. By 2025, some predict that 80 million others will join the online space. The rise of ecommerce in India comes as the cost of data plans in the country is low and access to mobile phones is wide.

The online presence of the Indian population is expected to further grow ecommerce sales. PayNearby’s business model and notable previous partnerships PayNearby operates as a branchless banking network, a modern financial services model that provides services as a normal bank does, without making use of physical bank branches. Among the main services that it provides are access to digital payments and DBT funds.

The company partners with local stores and it provides them with the means to supply their customers with services and products via the digital tools PayNearby owns. Therefore, PayNearby renders its services on a B2B2C structure. At the moment, PayNearby has around 50,00,000+ retail partners that are spread across the country and 20,00,000+ customers each day.

In 2022, PayNearby made the headlines after partnering with Protean eGov Technologies which provided the company with PAN-related services. .