Paytm launches AI Soundbox for small businesses: How it works

**Paytm Launches AI Soundbox for Small Businesses: How It Works**
*By Dwaipayan Roy | Oct 07, 2025, 08:03 PM*

Paytm has introduced the AI Soundbox, a revolutionary device designed to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) streamline their daily operations and payments more efficiently. The new product was unveiled at the Global Fintech Festival 2025, marking a significant step forward in bringing advanced technology to India’s business landscape.

### What Is the AI Soundbox?
The AI Soundbox is an enhanced version of Paytm’s popular payment Soundbox series. What sets this device apart is its conversational AI capability, allowing merchants to interact in 11 Indian languages. This feature makes business transactions and management more accessible for a diverse range of users across the country.

### Enhanced Features for Business Intelligence
Beyond handling payments, the AI assistant embedded in the Soundbox can answer queries related to payments, sales trends, and overall business performance. Paytm describes the device as a “business intelligence assistant,” providing real-time insights that help merchants make informed decisions without needing complex software.

The Android-based device features dual screens—one displays payment updates, while the other facilitates easy interaction with the AI assistant. It supports dynamic QR codes alongside tap and insert card transactions, ensuring versatile payment options for customers.

### Transforming Small Businesses with AI
The AI Soundbox is aimed at empowering India’s extensive network of small businesses, from local kirana stores to cafes and retail chains. By integrating artificial intelligence into everyday business interactions, Paytm hopes to simplify operations and enhance business intelligence at the grassroots level.

Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder and CEO of Paytm, highlighted that this launch signals a new era of intelligent devices tailored for businesses across India.

### Reliable Connectivity for Smooth Operations
Equipped with Wi-Fi connectivity, the AI Soundbox assures stable performance for indoor settings such as restaurants and supermarkets. Additionally, 4G support is built-in to maintain seamless transaction processing in outdoor or high-traffic areas.

With this launch, Paytm continues to innovate in the fintech space by providing accessible and smart technology solutions that cater specifically to the needs of India’s small and medium enterprises.
https://www.newsbytesapp.com/news/science/paytm-introduces-ai-soundbox-for-smes-here-s-what-it-offers/story

Swipe Founder Joselito Lizarondo on Risk, Resilience, and Reinventing the Future of Money

Oct. 6, 2025, Published 2:55 a.m. ET

Some people play it safe. Joselito Lizarondo is not one of them.

The Filipino-born entrepreneur has built his career on bold decisions that many might have considered unusually risky. Starting a financial venture during a difficult crypto bear market? A significant gamble. Focusing on an untested concept like ‘stablecoin debit cards’? Few thought it would work.

But for Lizarondo, these were not gambles. They were acts of conviction.

“I knew it looked crazy from the outside,” he admits. “But I also knew if we pulled it off, it would change everything.”

That “everything” turned out to be Swipe, the fintech company Lizarondo founded and eventually sold to Binance, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. What started as a bold vision—making digital assets spendable in real time—became the foundation for a new way of thinking about money itself.

The Risk

In 2018, the crypto industry was collapsing. Prices were down, investors were running for cover, and headlines screamed “bubble burst.” Most entrepreneurs would have shelved their ideas and waited for sunnier days. Lizarondo didn’t.

He pressed forward, sinking his energy and reputation into a product that many said would never work.

“You have to understand—when you launch in a bear market, everyone doubts you. Investors, partners, even friends,” he recalls. “It’s you against the world.”

The Resilience

That lonely fight became his training ground. Building Swipe meant pulling long nights, navigating endless regulatory hurdles, and facing down skeptics at every turn.

But where others saw barriers, Lizarondo saw opportunity. He refused to be shaken. Instead, he doubled down on what mattered most: solving a real problem.

Crypto users had assets, but they couldn’t spend them in their daily lives. Swipe’s debit card aimed to address this by offering conversion and transactions that felt more immediate and straightforward.

It wasn’t just an idea—it was survival. And it worked.

The Reinvention

Swipe’s success didn’t just prove the critics wrong. It introduced a different way of thinking about how money could be used.

By enabling real-time stablecoin spending, Lizarondo helped move crypto from a speculative bubble to something you could use at the grocery store.

For many observers, that marked an important turning point—not chasing riches, but creating utility.

When Binance acquired the company, it served as confirmation that the idea had merit. The company Lizarondo developed during a market downturn later became part of the operations of one of the world’s largest exchanges.

The Man Behind the Mission

But ask him if he’d do anything differently, and Lizarondo shakes his head.

“Nothing,” he says firmly. “The struggles, the failures, the sleepless nights—they all shaped the outcome. I wouldn’t change a thing.”

Today, he speaks not just as a founder who cashed out, but as a pioneer who helped redefine what money could be in the digital age.

His story is less about wealth and more about grit—the kind of grit it takes to keep going when everyone else is walking away.

Because for Joselito Lizarondo, resilience wasn’t just a trait. It was the currency that changed his life.

Investing involves risk and your investment may lose value. Past performance gives no indication of future results. These statements do not constitute and cannot replace investment advice.

https://radaronline.com/p/swipe-founder-joselito-lizarondo-risk-resilience-reinventing-future-of-money/

Move Over, Meghan Markle: David and Victoria Beckham ‘Planning to Launch Rival Brand’ Selling Own Homemade Jam, Wine and Gin as Duchess’ Business Continues to Flop

**David Beckham’s Farm-Fresh Brand Set to Rival Meghan Markle’s As Ever**

*Published: September 19, 2025, 7:07 p.m. ET*

Meghan Markle’s *As Ever* brand is about to face some stiff competition in the celebrity jam market. David Beckham is leveraging his impressive farming skills to launch a range of products—including the traditionally English fruit spread—RadarOnline.com can reveal.

The 50-year-old soccer legend has captivated fans with his farming and gardening talents over recent years, frequently sharing the fruits of his labor and recipes on social media. Now, Beckham aims to take things a step further by opening a farm shop on the couple’s $16.1 million estate in England’s Cotswolds, featuring his homegrown goods alongside products from his wife, Victoria Beckham.

**A Talented Grower with Big Dreams**

“David has been working really hard these past few years growing his own fruit and vegetables, as well as producing honey. It’s always been his dream to have a shop where he can sell his own produce,” an insider revealed. “Now, he feels ready to start selling directly to the public. He’s taken lots of courses, feels very connected to nature, and this shop could become another extension of their brand.”

Victoria shares the vision, with big plans in store. “While much of the project will be handled by their eldest team, Vic and David will be front and center for the launch and any publicity,” the source added. “They’re even thinking about branching out into wines and gins. Plus, Vic sees herself designing some country interiors.”

**A Potential Rival to As Ever**

The insider went on to highlight the Beckhams’ ambitions: “This venture could easily rival Meghan’s *As Ever* brand. Vic knows she has the background and expertise to outshine Meghan if she chooses to. There’s a huge market in the U.S. for English country living, and both David and Victoria know how to make it a success.”

They continued, “Meghan’s brand is very American, and Vic feels Meghan is a divisive figure in the UK, which could limit her success there. So, there’s a big opportunity for Brand Beckham with this farm shop. Victoria is fully behind it because it really energizes David.”

**Plums, Honey, and Jam: Beckham’s Specialty**

Since starting his first beehive in 2020, David has become quite the expert honey-maker. He even founded his own honey-based snack brand, Bee Up Snacks, often sharing honey tips on social media.

Victoria recently showcased her husband’s jam-making skills in a video posted to her Instagram Story on September 7. The pop icon expressed her admiration as David prepared several batches of plum jam made from fruit grown on their farm.

Meanwhile, their estranged son Brooklyn had made a less impressive strawberry jam tutorial two weeks earlier. Insiders suggest Victoria’s upbeat video was a cheeky jab not only at Brooklyn but possibly at Meghan Markle as well.

“Vic has a wicked sense of humor,” the source said. “That jam video is definitely aimed at Brooklyn, but she might also be taking a playful dig at Meghan.”

**The Pause of As Ever**

David’s jam and honey tutorials come across as thorough and authentic, especially when contrasted with some of the content Meghan has shared while promoting *As Ever*.

The Duchess of Sussex launched *As Ever* in March with products including a raspberry spread (not traditional jam), wildflower honey, crêpe mix, shortbread cookies, and dried flower sprinkles. Although she claimed items sold out in under an hour, accusations surfaced that limited stock quantities were used to create hype around the brand.

In June, Markle announced she was pausing restocks to “take a step back, gather data from the launch, and figure out exactly what *As Ever* could be.”

She later introduced an *As Ever* rosé wine, but the sophomore release struggled after criticism over pricing—consumers said it was as expensive as the first vintage despite having lower alcohol content.

With David Beckham’s farm-to-table approach and Victoria’s savvy eye for design and branding, the Beckham farm shop and product line could well become a major player in the celebrity lifestyle market, potentially redefining English country living for fans on both sides of the Atlantic.
https://radaronline.com/p/david-victoria-beckham-planning-launch-rival-brand-meghan-markle/