State Bank Of India Blocks Paytm Wallets From Online Banking

State Bank of India is no longer letting customers of its internet banking system transfer money to their Paytm wallets.

According to a report by Mashable, instead of letting them use Paytm, the bank is steering them toward its own digital wallet, dubbed State Bank Buddy. The report noted that the move happened last week, and since then, the State Bank Buddy app has been downloaded 5 million times. State Bank didn’t make an announcement but revealed the move on Twitter in response to a customer’s complaint, noted the report. The move on the part of State Bank of India comes amid a hot market for mobile wallets in India after the government banned high-value currency notes to fight back against fraud.

With a cash crisis going on in India, many consumers have been embracing digital payments, which bodes well for Paytm. Paytm, MobiKwik and FreeCharge are all seeing an increase in downloads and number of transactions since the move on the part of the Indian government, according to the report. The report noted Paytm has an advantage over its competitors and PayPal due to its close relationship with Alibaba, the Chinese internet eCommerce giant. Alibaba and its financial technology unit, Ant Financial, own a 40 percent stake in Paytm‘s parent company.

The State Bank of India isn’t the only opposition Paytm is facing. Last week, PayPal filed a complaint in India against Paytm, claiming its look is too much like PayPal’s color scheme, pointing out that both services started with the word “pay.” PayPal also contended Paytm’s logo was “deceptively and confusingly similar” to PayPal’s logo. While it’s nothing new to sue a competitor that looks similar to the original company, a report covering the lawsuit noted the move on the part of PayPal may be more competitive given Paytm has become one of the leaders in the digital payments market in India.