Navi Overtakes CRED To Become Fourth Largest UPI Player

Sachin Bansal-led fintech unicorn Navi has surpassed CRED to emerge as India’s fourth largest UPI player in October, with the formers’ customer-initiated transactions growing to 157.51 Mn from 120.41 Mn in the preceding month.

As per National Payment Corporation of India’s (NPCI) data, the value of Navi’s UPI transactions stood at INR 8,841.90 Cr in October.

Meanwhile, Kunal Shah-led CRED logged 152.28 Mn customer-initiated transactions in October, as per the data.

Besides, Walmart-owned PhonePe continues to lead the UPI race with 7.9 Bn transactions and Google Pay securing second position with 6.2 Bn transactions.

In August, Navi surpassed digital payment platform Amazon Pay UPI with 88.71 Mn customer-initiated transactions

However, it is pertinent to note that Navi is one of the four NBFCs which were recently restricted to sanction fresh loans by the Reserve Bank Of India (RBI). The company was barred from sanctioning loans citing “material supervisory concerns”, including alleged usurious pricing. RBI also believed that the fintech startup charged over-excessive interest rates, outsourced financial services, and gave inadequate disclosure of interest rates and fees.

After this legal intervention, Navi also called off its proposed INR 100 Cr bond sale which was scheduled to open for bidding on October 21.

Navi, cofounded by Bansal and Ankit Agarwal, focuses on loan products such as personal, vehicle, and home loans. Founded in 2012, the subsidiary holds an NBFC license and offers digital lending products for personal and housing finance.

It was converted to a public company in March 2022.

Navi reported an operating revenue of INR 1,906.2 Cr in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), down from INR 2,040.6 Cr in the previous fiscal year. Meanwhile, the fintech’s consolidated profit after tax (PAT) slipped 56% YoY to INR 115.6 Cr in FY24. 

The FY23 numbers also included income from Navi’s former subsidiary Chaitanya India Fin Credit Private Limited. Navi diluted its entire stake in the subsidiary in FY24.

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