Paytm attributed the decline in the value of loans disbursed in April to a temporary pause in merchant loan distribution for one of its partners due to a technology systems upgrade
The fintech company’s average monthly transacting users (MTU) rose 25% YoY to 9.2 Cr in April, while it added 3 Lakh subscription paying merchants for its payment devices
On Friday, Paytm reported a 78% decline in its net loss to INR 167.5 Cr in Q4 FY23, as its payment services and financial services verticals witnessed sharp growth
Fintech major Paytm on Saturday (May 6) said it disbursed 41 Lakh loans worth INR 4,115 Cr ($503 Mn) in April, a year-on-year (YoY) rise of 56% and 148%, respectively.
However, the value of loans disbursed declined nearly 8% from INR 4,468 Cr in March, while the number of loans disbursed remained unchanged.
In an exchange filing on its operating performance last month, Paytm said while it continued to see growth in distribution of postpaid, personal, and merchant loans, there was a temporary hiccup in the merchant loans vertical in April.
The company said it had to temporarily pause merchant loan distribution through its platform for one of its partners due to a technology systems upgrade by the latter.
“While new loan distribution was largely unaffected given we have multiple partners, upselling to existing merchants of that partner got impacted. The system upgrade is now done and our partner has resumed disbursing merchant loans,” the filing said.
However, this lag in April is expected to have some impact on Q1 FY24 merchant loan growth. Paytm currently has seven lending partners and it aims to add three-four partners in the current fiscal.
Meanwhile, the company said its average monthly transacting users (MTU) stood at 9.2 Cr in April, up 25% YoY, on the back of continuous expansion of its customer base.
The Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led fintech company also said that the number of merchants paying subscription for its payment devices like Soundbox and POS machines rose by 3 Lakh to 71 Lakh at the end of April. This number stood at 32 Lakh a year ago.
“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 startup said.
Paytm processed a total merchant gross merchandise volume (GMV) of INR 1.27 Lakh Cr ($15.6 Bn ) in April, up 34% YoY.
Paytm’s Q4 FY23 Performance
Earlier on Friday, Paytm reported a 51% YoY increase in its operating revenue to INR 2,334.5 Cr in Q4 FY23 on the back of strong growth in its payment services and loan distribution verticals.
Paytm said it disbursed 1.19 Cr loans worth INR 12,554 Cr on its platform in the March quarter of FY23.
While revenue from payments services contributed INR 1,334 Cr during the quarter to Paytm’s operating revenue, financial services and other related businesses contributed INR 475 Cr.
Overall, Paytm’s net loss narrowed 78% YoY to INR 167.5 Cr in Q4 FY23.
Shares of the company ended Friday’s session 2.7% higher at INR 689.45 on the BSE. It declared the financial results after market hours.
