Ease of doing business for MSMEs: Mobile internet company One97 Communications, the parent entity of digital payments and financial services provider Paytm, on Monday reported 118 per cent growth in payment devices subscribed by its merchants as of May (Q1 to date) in the current fiscal. In an exchange filing, the company said the number of merchants paying subscription for its payment devices like soundbox and point-of-sale (PoS) machines increased to 75 lakh during April and May this fiscal (4 lakh merchants added during May) from 34 lakh during April and May in previous financial year.
“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,” Paytm said in the filing.
Also read: Paytm nears 6 million merchants paying subscription for payment devices in Q3
The company had ended FY23 with 68 lakh merchants using devices as of March quarter, growing by 134 per cent from 29 lakh merchants as of March quarter in FY22. The growth comes amid Paytm’s focus on enabling an additional payment monetization channel other than merchant discount rate (MDR) — the rate at which merchants are charged for accepting digital payments through different payment methods.
Paytm’s total merchant payment volumes (gross merchandise value) processed for the quarter to date, April and May 2023, grew by 35 per cent to Rs 2.65 lakh crore from Rs 1.96 lakh crore during April and May 2022 period. “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.”
Meanwhile, loans disbursed through the Paytm platform for April and May scaled to Rs 9,618 crore, up by 169 per cent from Rs 3,576 crore during April and May FY22.
The company said it continues to see growth in the distribution of postpaid and personal loans and has partnered with large NBFCs and banks. Paytm currently has seven lending partners and is looking to onboard three-four partners in the current fiscal.
Ease of doing business for MSMEs: “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,” Paytm said in the filing.
