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Paytm Refutes Layoff Claims

Paytm.

In its filing Paytm said that such reports were baseless and inaccurately represent the company’s operational and strategic planning…reports Asian Lite News

In an exchange filing on Saturday, One97 Communications Ltd (OCL), which owns and operates the Paytm brand, has formally announced that Praveen Sharma, Senior Vice President – Business, has resigned from his position on March 23.

The release says, Sharma is stepping down to pursue opportunities in the next phase of his professional journey. Before joining Paytm, Sharma spent nine years in leadership roles at Google, covering India and the APAC region.

Addressing recent speculations, Paytm also emphatically denied reports suggesting a 25-50 percent workforce reduction in specific business segments.

In its filing Paytm said that such reports were baseless and inaccurately represent the company’s operational and strategic planning.

According to the filing, Paytm is currently engaged in its annual appraisal process, a routine organizational practice aimed at assessing and enhancing team performance. This process, focused on performance evaluations and role alignments, is standard across industries and is not indicative of layoffs.

The company also clarified that its restructuring efforts and performance-related adjustments are misconstrued as layoffs. The filing says that Paytm reassures its commitment to growth and operational efficiency without compromising its workforce’s stability.

The exchange filing quotes a Paytm official statement asserting, “The claims of layoffs affecting 50% of our workforce are unfounded and misleading. We are focused on sustainable growth, innovation, and providing exceptional service to our customers. We urge our stakeholders and the public to rely on factual and verified information from official sources and disregard speculative narratives.”

The company further says that Paytm remains dedicated to its mission of leading the digital payments and financial services landscape in India, reinforcing its commitment to innovation, customer service, and team development amidst unfounded layoff speculations.”

As the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) deadline to put certain business restrictions on Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL) ends on Friday, here are some key changes for millions of Paytm users and merchants that will come into force.

First of all, those having a savings bank or current account with Paytm Payments Bank will be not able to deposit money into their account.

No credits or deposits other than interest, cash-backs, sweep-in from partner banks or refunds are allowed to be credited, according to the Central Bank.

However, one can continue to use, withdraw or transfer funds from their account up to the available balance in your account.

Also, refunds, cashbacks, sweep-in from partner banks or interest are permitted and credits into the account even after March 15, 2024.

“The existing Deposits of Paytm Payments Bank customers maintained with partner banks can be brought back (sweep-in) to the accounts with Paytm Payments Bank, subject to the ceiling on balance prescribed for a Payments Bank (Rs 2 lakh per individual customer at the end of day),” according to RBI.

However, no fresh deposits with partner banks through Paytm Payments Bank will be allowed after March 15.

If one’s salary is credited into the account with Paytm Payments Bank, they will not be able to receive any such credits into your account post the deadline.

Withdrawal/debit mandates–such as National Automated Clearing House (NACH) mandates–will continue to get executed till there is balance available in your account.

“However, after March 15, 2024, credit or deposit in your accounts will not be allowed. Therefore, to avoid inconvenience, it is suggested that you make alternative arrangements through another bank, before March 15, 2024,” RBI had said in its guidelines.

For merchants using Paytm Payments Bank to receive payments, if their receipt and transfer of funds is linked to any bank account other than Paytm Payments Bank, they can continue to use this arrangement even after March 15.

However, after March 15, “you will not be able to receive any credit into your bank account or wallet with Paytm Payments Bank other than refunds, cashbacks, sweep-in from partner banks or interest.”

It is suggested that a user obtain a fresh QR code linked to an account with another bank or wallet to receive payments. One may also change their bank account details (in which they receive payments) through their service provider.

On Friday, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) granted approval to One97 Communications Limited (OCL), the parent company of Paytm, to participate in unified payments interface (UPI) as a third-party application provider (TPAP) under multi-bank model.

Four banks (Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, YES Bank) will act as PSP (payment system provider) banks to OCL.

“YES Bank shall also be acting as merchant acquiring bank for existing and new UPI merchants for OCL,” the NPCI said.

Meanwhile, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has advised Paytm FASTag users to procure a new FASTag issued by another bank before March 15. They can use their existing balance to pay the toll beyond the stipulated date.

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Delhi Tops Paytm Night Payments

If all the Paytm QR codes used this year were stacked up, it would be taller than 40 Qutub Minars…reports Asian Lite News

One97 Communications Limited (OCL), which owns Paytm, said on Wednesday that a whopping 912 crore merchant payments were made using the leading financial and payments provider in the second quarter (Q2) of FY24.

When it comes to making most payments between 12 midnight and 6 a.m., Delhi outshined cities like Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and Goa, according to the ‘Paytm Recap 2023’ report.

The Recap showcases a year of leadership in payments and incredible user engagement on its app.

“As the pioneer of QR code, soundbox and mobile payments in India, we continue to see widespread acceptance of Paytm, with increased adoption among both consumers and merchants,” said a Paytm spokesperson.

“In 2023, we achieved new milestones and further cemented our leadership in payments. We continue to lead technology for India’s small shops and remain focused on driving financial inclusion in India,” the spokesperson added.

If all the Paytm QR codes used this year were stacked up, it would be taller than 40 Qutub Minars.

Over 55 lakh challans worth a staggering Rs 179+ crore were paid on Paytm, enabling users to settle dues in a convenient way, according to the company.

Paytm continues to strengthen its leadership in in-store payments, with more than 92 lakh Paytm pioneered devices such as Soundbox, Card Machines, etc. in the quarter ending September 2023.

Paytm was the first to launch QR code-based payments, and instant audio confirmation with the Soundbox device.

This year, the company launched three new Paytm Soundbox devices for merchants — Pocket Soundbox, Music Soundbox, and Card Soundbox.

“An intriguing observation is that the maximum number of payments have been made on Saturday, making it the busiest day in the week for digital transactions,” said the company.

Users from places like Dharwas in Himachal Pradesh and Laitmawsiang in Meghalaya have made ‘Paytm Karo’ an integral part of their lives.

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Paytm Expands Credit Business

Paytm.

Paytm continues to focus on merchant loans that are lended to MSME as business loans. …reports Asian Lite News

Paytm, India’s leading mobile payments and financial services distribution company, on Wednesday said it will expand its credit distribution business in partnership with large banks and NBFCs by offering higher ticket personal and merchant loans to lower risk and high credit-worthy customers.

Owing to the strong portfolio performance and widespread acceptance of loan distribution, Paytm witnessed encouraging early trends when the company started working in this direction last quarter.

“As the lending distribution business is maturing, we see newer opportunities of expansion to offer high-value personal and merchant loans. We will continue to focus on originating the high portfolio quality for our lending partners, along with strict adherence to risk and compliance. We have seen great scale and acceptance for our loan distribution business, so we believe this expansion will further aid us to grow the business,” said a Paytm spokesperson.

In the light of recent macro development and regulatory guidance and in consultation with lending partners, the company remains focused on driving a healthy portfolio and has recalibrated the portfolio origination of less than Rs 50,000 – prominently the postpaid loan product will now be a smaller part of its loan distribution business moving forward.

Paytm continues to focus on merchant loans that are lended to MSME as business loans. Given that these loans are extended for business purposes to support small merchants, they remain unaffected by the recent regulatory guidance.

The company said it continues to add banks and NBFCs as its lending partners for its loan distribution business.

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How Paytm Revolutionising Merchant Payments

After the recent successful launch of Paytm Pocket Soundbox and Paytm Music Soundbox, with Paytm Card Soundbox, the company is driving further convenience for merchants…reports Asian Lite News

Paytm, India’s leading payments and financial services company and the pioneer of QR and mobile payments, on Monday launched its latest innovation — Card Soundbox.

With this, the company will empower merchants to accept both mobile and card payments across all Visa, Mastercard, American Express and RuPay networks through its iconic Soundbox with ‘tap and pay’ that will help merchants scale their business.

“Today with Paytm Card Soundbox, we take it to the next level. We have found that merchants and consumers need card acceptance as simply as mobile payments with Paytm QR Code. The launch of Card Soundbox will go a long way in merging the two requirements of merchants – mobile payments and card payments,” said Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Founder & CEO, Paytm.

Paytm was the first company to launch audio-based confirmations with Paytm Soundbox, transforming in-store payments in the country.

Focussed on creating technology-led innovations, the company continues to be the market leader in in-store payments with devices like Paytm Soundbox and Card Machines.

“The Paytm Card Soundbox is yet another innovation that will enable small merchants to provide a seamless digital payment experience to their customers by easily accepting contactless card payments,” said Gautam Aggarwal, Division President, South Asia, Mastercard.

After the recent successful launch of Paytm Pocket Soundbox and Paytm Music Soundbox, with Paytm Card Soundbox, the company is driving further convenience for merchants.

With Paytm Card Soundbox, the company solves two problems for merchants — accepting card payments along with getting instant audio alerts for all payments. The launch of Paytm’s unique device will transform in-store payments by expanding payment acceptance for merchants by combining Soundbox with NFC or contactless debit and credit card payments with mobile payments.

“Audio payment alerts have transformed digital payments in India and enabled many merchants to seamlessly digitise their businesses. Paytm Card Soundbox is India’s first Soundbox that will also accept contactless card payments and would further accelerate cashless transactions in the country,” said NPCI.

The new Soundbox will provide both audio and visual payment confirmation through an LCD display to the merchant and the customer.

“The launch of Paytm Card Soundbox demonstrates the importance of contactless card payments in today’s world. Visa is proud to be part of this innovation, which offers a versatile solution for merchants and aligns with the changing preferences of consumers in India,” said Sandeep Ghosh, Group Country Manager, India and South Asia, Visa.

With built-in ‘tap and pay’ functionality, merchants will be able to accept card payments up to Rs 5,000. The device is powered by 4G network connectivity, providing the fastest payment alerts.

With a 4W speaker, Paytm Card Soundbox enhances the clarity of payment alerts. It also has a long battery life of five days.

“After revolutionising mobile payments by pioneering Soundbox in India, Paytm Card Soundbox will further boost digitisation in the country. It is India’s first Soundbox that also accepts card payments, this would help accelerate the growth of cashless transactions in the country and Amex is happy to be a partner with Paytm on this acceptance growth,” said Anurag Gupta, Vice President & Head – Acquiring & Network Issuing, American Express.

Moreover, the device offers alerts in 11 languages that can be changed by the merchant through Paytm for Business app. Plus, with Paytm Card Soundbox, users with NFC-enabled smartphones can also pay through their phones using the tap feature.

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Impressive Paytm!

Over the last one year, the company’s merchant subscriber base more than doubled to 79 lakh as of June 2023 with its merchant base expanding to 3.6 crore…reports Asian Lite News

India’s leading payments and financial services company Paytm has shown yet another impressive quarterly growth, registering a bumper revenue uptick of 39 per cent YoY, taking its revenue to Rs 2,342 crore in Q1FY24. This was achieved by increase in GMV, merchant subscription revenues, and growth of loans registered on the platform.

Paytm’s EBITDA before ESOP saw a significant improvement of Rs 359 crore YoY to Rs 84 crore, compared to Rs 52 crore in Q4FY23 (excluding the UPI incentive). In Q1FY24, Paytm further grew its contributing profit, up by 80 per cent YoY to Rs 1,304 crore. Driven by the rise in contribution margin and consistent improvement in profitability, EBITDA before ESOP margin also improved to 4 per cent.

Over the last one year, the company’s merchant subscriber base more than doubled to 79 lakh as of June 2023 with its merchant base expanding to 3.6 crore, a robust growth for its pioneering devices like Paytm Sound Box and Paytm Card machines. Contribution margin of the company expanded to 56 per cent this quarter, an increase of 12 per cent point YoY, with increase in net payment margin and growth in loan distribution business.

Its payments services revenue grew 31 per cent YoY to Rs 1,414 crore for Q1FY24.

As a merchant payments leader, Paytm continues to see sustained traction and earns more than Rs 100 to Rs 500 per month per device. Meanwhile, the number of merchant loans distributed grew 141 per cent YoY in Q1 FY 2024, while the value of merchant loans grew 232 per cent YoY to Rs 2,744 crore.

Paytm.

The revenue from financial services offered by the fintech major saw a bumper growth, soaring 93 per cent YoY to Rs 522 crore. With loan distribution forming a core of the company’s aggressive business growth strategy, the value of loans disbursed stood at Rs 14,845 crore, up 167 per cent  YoY.

The number of postpaid loans distributed by Paytm grew 49 per cent YoY, while the value of postpaid loans grew 138 per cent YoY.

Another groundbreaking growth was registered under the personal loans category with Paytm achieving growth of 128 per cent YoY, with the value of personal loans growing 202 per cent YoY to Rs 4,062 crore.

Paytm. (Photo: Twitter/@Paytm)

The total number of unique borrowers who have taken loan through Paytm platform has increased from 49 lakh to 1.06 crore.

With increased customer engagement, its Average Monthly Transacting Users (MTU) for Q1 FY 2024 grew by 23 per cent YoY to 9.2 crore as adoption of mobile payments for consumers in India continues.

Paytm’s active user base continues to present significant upsell opportunities, providing businesses with ample opportunities to monetise. In Q1 FY 2024, Commerce & Cloud revenue grew by 22 per cent YoY to Rs 405 crore.

Furthermore, due to positive EBITDA before ESOP, improvement in working capital, and interest income, its cash balance has increased to Rs 8,367 crore as of quarter ending June 2023, as compared to Rs 8,275 crore as of quarter ending March 2023.

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Paytm saga continues

Driving payment monetisation, Paytm’s subscription devices, Soundbox and PoS machines, continue to see an increased acceptance by merchants….reports Asian Lite News

Leading payments and financial services company Paytm on Wednesday said it achieved a new milestone in merchant payments with 79 lakh devices deployed while the gross merchandise value (GMV) for the Q1 FY24 stood at Rs 4.05 lakh crore, a year-on-year (YoY) growth of 37 per cent.

Driving payment monetisation, Paytm’s subscription devices, Soundbox and PoS machines, continue to see an increased acceptance by merchants.

The company continues to remain the market leader in merchant payments with the number of merchants paying subscription for payment devices has reached 79 lakh as of June 2023, an increase of 4 lakh devices in the month and 11 lakh devices in the quarter that ended on June 30.

Consumer engagement on the Paytm Super App remains high with the average monthly transacting users (MTU) at 9.2 crore, growth of 23 per cent YoY.

With an eye on profitability, the company said, “Our focus over the past few quarters continues to be on payment volumes that generate profitability for us, either through net payments margin or from direct upsell potential.”

Paytm’s credit distribution business, in partnership with large lenders, continues to witness robust growth with total disbursements for the quarter, surging 167 per cent YoY to Rs 14,845 crore ($1.8 billion) with 1.28 crore loans (51 per cent YoY growth) distributed.

“Our focus remains on the asset quality by continuously reviewing with our partners cohort data and tightening credit policy wherever needed proactively. This reflects in the growth of value of loans distributed in the quarter,” said the company.

Paytm currently has seven active lending partners and it aims to onboard 3-4 partners this fiscal.

It announced its loan distribution partnership with Shriram Finance Limited on June 30.

The company also said that due to the earlier mentioned system upgrade, the higher disbursals in June reflects the pent-up demand from April being met in May.

In the results of the last quarter of FY23, Paytm reported a 51 per cent YoY growth in revenue from operations to Rs 2,334 crore, driven by growth in payments and loan distribution business.

The company reported an operating profit for the second straight quarter in Q4FY23. It reported EBITDA before ESOP cost of Rs 234 crore, including the full-year UPI incentive.

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Paytm cements merchant payments leadership

Consumer engagement on the Paytm Super App continues to see robust expansion of its consumer base…reports Asian Lite News

Indias leading payments and financial services company Paytm on Monday announced its business operating performance for the two months ended May 2023.

Consumer engagement on the Paytm Super App continues to see robust expansion of its consumer base with the average Monthly Transacting Users (MTU) for the two months ended May 2023 at 9.2 crore, registering a growth of 24 per cent year-on-year.

As it strengthens its leadership in offline payments, the QR pioneer said it achieved a new milestone with 75 lakh devices deployed, an increase of 4 lakh devices in the month of May.

“With our subscription as a service model, the strong adoption of devices drives subscription revenues and higher payment volumes, while increasing the funnel for our merchant loan distribution,” the company said.

Paytm is seeing consistent growth in merchant payments volume with the total merchant Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) processed through the platform for the two months ended May 2023 aggregating to Rs 2.65 lakh crore ($32.1 billion), marking a year-on-year growth of 35 per cent.

“Our focus over the past few quarters continues to be on payment volumes that generate profitability for us, either through net payments margin or from direct upsell potential,” added Paytm.

The fintech giant’s loan distribution business, in partnership with top lenders, continues to witness accelerated growth with disbursements through the platform for the two months ended May 2023 growing 169 per cent year-on-year to Rs 9,618 crore ($1.1 billion).

The number of loans disbursed in the two months surged 54 per cent to 85 lakh loans. Paytm said it currently has seven large lending partners and aims to onboard 3-4 partners in FY24 while it continues to work with lenders to remain focused on the quality of the book.

The company also said that the earlier mentioned system upgrade is now done and its lending partner has resumed disbursing merchant loans, with some pent-up demand from April being met in May.

In its recently announced January-March quarter (Q4FY23) results, Paytm reported a 51 per cent YoY growth in revenue from operations to Rs 2,334 crore, driven by growth in payments and loan distribution business.

The company reported an operating profit for the second straight quarter. It reported EBITDA before ESOP cost of Rs 234 crore, including the full-year UPI incentive. In the previous quarter, Paytm achieved its milestone of operating profitability, much ahead of its September 2023 guidance.

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Paytm Money launches bond investing

The company said it is simplifying bonds for retail investors and enabling them to invest in three types of bonds — government, corporate and tax-free…reports Asian Lite News

One97 Communications Limited (OCL), that owns leading mobile payments and financial services company Paytm, on Tuesday announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Paytm Money Limited has launched the most advanced bonds platform for retail investors in the country.

The company said it is simplifying bonds for retail investors and enabling them to invest in three types of bonds — government, corporate and tax-free.

“This is just the start of bonds investing in India. We believe bonds are the best way for first-time investors to enter capital markets and every Indian should have a diversified wealth portfolio with bonds being a core part of it. We will continue to bring the best technology-driven features for investors with the safety and security they deserve,” said Varun Sridhar, CEO, Paytm Money.

Bonds on Paytm money app presents investors all relevant information at one place, and converts everything to yield so investors can analyse and understand the returns they can earn.

Now, investors will not have to go to different sources for information on coupon vs yield, clean price vs dirty price, coupon frequency, coupon record dates etc, and instead, find it all on one dashboard on the Paytm Money app.

According to the company, investing in debt markets in India is still very new and the country has the potential to have 100 million investors, for whom bonds would be the best way to enter capital markets.

As a SEBI-registered broker, Paytm Money is leveraging the existing strong regulatory framework to innovate and bring a simple, secure and transparent bond product to India.

It has achieved so with investor safety features such as limit order as the default order types, prices compared across both NSE and BSE, and the best exchange rate pre-selected, credit ratings from multiple rating agencies, with the lowest being the default rating and many more such features.

Currently, Bonds on Paytm Money is being launched with an early access waitlist programme.

Tax free bonds are a great investment for Indians. One can invest in tax free bonds, issued by PSUs, like NHAI, IRFC, REC etc at yields of up to 5.8 per cent per annum, and maturity, ranging from 5 months to 13 years.

Investors, who wish to expand their portfolio, can also look at corporate bonds like Indiabulls Housing Finance, Edelweiss etc where depending on the credit profile of the company, and the maturity of the bond, one can earn up to 15 per cent per annum.

Paytm Money continues to drive wealth creation by enabling users with investment products like Mutual Funds, Stocks, IPO, F&O, ETF, NPS and more.

Paytm Money’s offerings of giving way to small ticket investments in mutual funds and stocks contribute to financial inclusion in the country.

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Paytm leads India’s fintech space

While PhonePe and Google Pay are focused on UPI P2P, Paytm has taken the cake with its diversification of business…reports Asian Lite News

Indian fintech giant Paytm on Wednesday reported its financial performance for FY23, where its revenues swelled to Rs 7,991 crore for the fiscal year.

Just inches away from a billion dollars, Paytm’s revenue puts it the leading spot in the Indian fintech space and miles ahead of the likes of PhonePe or GooglePay. To put it into perspective, Paytm’s Q4 revenues of Rs 2,334 crore were still ahead of PhonePe’s revenues of Rs 1,912 crore for the first nine months of the calendar year 2022.

While PhonePe and Google Pay are focused on UPI P2P, Paytm has taken the cake with its diversification of business. In fact, Paytm has been focused on merchant payments, where it actually makes money.

In the fourth quarter, Paytm also recorded UPI incentives worth Rs 182 crore in the quarter, up by 101 per cent on a yearly basis.

Paytm has built a key differentiation in the market for itself with the widest array of payment instruments like Wallet, UPI, Postpaid, Food Wallet, Fastag and a variety of banking products available through Paytm Payments Bank.

For offline transactions, the company has devices like Paytm QR code, Android Smart POS, EDC (Electronic Data Capture) device, IoT devices and the soundbox.

Furthermore, the company has built a solid lending business, wherein it has seen a 364 per cent increase in the value of loans distributed through its platform.

In Q4 FY 2023, revenue for financial services and others grew 183 per cent (year-on-year) to Rs 475 crore. For FY 2023, revenue from Financial Services and others jumped 252 per cent to Rs 1,540 crore.

All of this has also made Paytm profitable. The company which reported operating profitability in the third quarter, has further grown it to Rs 101 crore. For the full year, Paytm has silenced critics with an improvement of Rs 1,342 crore in EBITDA before ESOP costs.

With significant investments in sales, manpower, and improvement in the technology platform, while continuing to grow its revenue, Paytm’s leadership across its diverse businesses is expected to grow.

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Paytm cements merchant payments leadership

Paytm’s leadership in offline payments strengthened with 71 lakh devices deployed, an increase of three lakh devices in April 2023….reports Asian Lite News

Payments and financial services company and pioneer of QR and mobile payments Paytm on Saturday posted its operating business update for April 2023.

In a stock exchange filing, the company said it continued to see growing consumer engagement on the ‘Paytm Super App’ with the average monthly transacting users for the month growing 25 per cent year-on-year to 9.2 crores, reflecting continued expansion of its customer base.

Paytm’s leadership in offline payments strengthened with 71 lakh devices deployed, an increase of three lakh devices in April 2023.

“Our leadership in payment monetization continues, as subscription services for payment devices like Soundbox and POS machines continue to see increased acceptance by merchants,” said the company in the filing to the stock exchanges.

The company also said that with its subscription as a service (SaaS) model, the strong adoption of devices drove subscription revenues and higher payment volumes.

With increased engagement from consumers and merchants, the total merchant Gross Merchandise Value processed through Paytm platform for the month of April 2023 was Rs 1.27 lakh crore ($15.6 billion), marking a year-on-year growth of 34 per cent.

“Our focus over the past few quarters continues to be on payment volumes that generate profitability for us, either through net payments margin or from direct upsell potential,” Paytm said.

In its loan distribution business (in partnership with large lenders), Paytm continues to witness healthy growth with total loans distributed through its platform for the month of April 2023 growing 148 per cent year-on-year to Rs 4,115 crore (USD 503 million).

“We continue to see growth in distribution of Postpaid and Personal Loans,” it said.

On Friday, Paytm announced its Q4 FY23 results.

It reported a 51 per cent yearly growth in revenue from operations to Rs 2,334 crore, driven by growth in payments and loan distribution business. The company reported an operating profit for the second straight quarter. It reported EBITDA before ESOP cost of Rs 234 crore, including the full-year UPI incentive. (ANI)

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