BankBazaar Trims FY23 Losses By 15% As Top Line Jumps 66% To INR 158.69 Cr

Banking on a major spurt in revenues, fintech startup BankBazaar further trimmed its losses by more than 15% year-on-year (YoY) to INR 36.71 Cr in the financial year 2022-23 (FY23). In contrast, the losses stood at INR 43.23 Cr in the fiscal year ended March 2022. 

The biggest win, however, came in the form of surging operating revenues, which stood at INR 158.69 Cr in FY23, up from INR 95.52 Cr in FY22. 

Including ‘other income’, the co-branded credit card issuer’s total income jumped 1.65X to INR 160.22 Cr in FY23 from INR 96.73 Cr in FY22. 

The Chennai-based startup earns revenue from commission that it charges banks for each transaction undertaken by its customers. It also offers a free facility to enable users to check their CIBIL score. 

Founded in 2008 by former Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu executive Adhil Shetty, ex-Amazon executive Arjun Shetty and erstwhile Kraft employee Rati Shetty, BankBazaar is a financial services marketplace that allows users to access information about products such as credit cards and upsells third-party loans and insurance to users on its website and app.

It claims to be the largest fintech co-branded credit card issuer in the country and has more than 5 Cr users registered on its platform. BankBazaar was one of the early players in the homegrown fintech space but has since been outpaced by its biggest competitor PB Fintech in terms of revenues. 

Now, let’s steal a glance at the company’s other key metrics, which are equally important to sustain in a market shrouded in an ongoing funding winter and cut-throat competition.

A Snapshot Of How BankBazaar Grappled With Rising Costs In FY23

• BankBazaar’s total expenditures zoomed 40% YoY to INR 196.93 Cr in FY23
• Employee benefits jumped 14% YoY to INR 92.58 Cr in FY23, accounting for 47% of the total expenditure
• ‘Miscellaneous expenses’ stood at INR 30.32 Cr, which included loss suffered on account of foreign exchange fluctuations, bad debts, and net change in the fair value of mutual funds
• BankBazaar continued to splurge heavily on promotions as advertising expenses, which jumped more than 27% YoY to INR 18.39 Cr
• IT expenses, which include website maintenance charges, soared more than 57% YoY to INR 13.8 Cr in the year ended March 2023

The fintech startup also raked up ESOP (employee stock ownership plan) costs to the tune of INR 8.25 Cr in FY23 which were settled in cash.

One of the earliest fintech startups in the country, BankBazaar is backed by names such as Experian, Eight Roads, Sequoia India, WSV, and Amazon. The startup has so far raised more than $117 Mn in funding across multiple rounds since its inception. 

The attempts to rein in costs and streamline operations come at a time when BankBazaar has been planning to list on the Indian bourses by 2024. Having promised breakeven by as soon as next year, the fintech major is one of the key players in the fintech space and has doubled down on its presence in the personal and car loan space. 

As competition rises and funding winter continues to grip the ecosystem, it remains to be seen how the platform will bounce back as it prepares for its much-touted IPO.