Paytm’s Loan Biz Grows Unabated; Fintech Disburses 43 Lakh Loans Worth INR 5,164 Cr In July

Paytm’s loan distribution business continued to scale well last month, as the fintech giant disbursed 43 Lakh loans worth INR 5,194 Cr ($632 Mn). 

While the number of loans distributed jumped 7.5% month-on-month (MoM) compared to 40 Lakhs in June, the value of loans slipped a mere 0.6% during the month from INR 5,227 Cr in June. However, on a year-on-year (YoY) basis, the number of loans and value of loans disbursed rose 46% and 148%, respectively. 

The fintech major made the disclosures in its monthly performance update with the stock exchanges. Paytm added that it was working on expanding its lending partnerships to further grow its loan book.

“To ensure that portfolio performance of our lending partners improves despite economic uncertainties, our credit disbursement growth will be deliberately calibrated over the next quarter or two… We currently have 8 lending partners and we aim to onboard 3-4 partners in FY2024,” said Paytm in a regulatory filing.  

Besides, the flagship payments vertical also saw continued traction. As per the company, monthly transacting users on the platform grew 19% YoY to 9.3 Cr in July 2023 against 7.8 Cr in July 2022. On a monthly basis, MTUs grew marginally by 1% from 9.2 Cr in June 2023. 

In terms of merchant payments, Paytm logged a cumulative gross merchandise volume (GMV) of INR 1.47 Lakh Cr in July 2023, up 39% YoY from INR 1.06 Lakh Cr a year ago. 

The company said that it continues to see an increase in GMV of non-UPI products such as EMI and cards. Paytm also claimed that it was focussed on payment volumes that generate profitability via net payments margin or direct upsell potential.

Paytm continued to see rapid adoption of payment devices by merchants in the offline payments space. The company accounted for more than 82 Lakh paying subscribers for payment devices in July 2023, doubling from 41 Lakh in July last year. On a monthly basis, it added 3.8 Lakh paying merchants to its fold. 

“Our leadership in payment monetization continues with the launch of two new innovative devices – Paytm Pocket Soundbox and Paytm Music Soundbox. Number of merchants paying subscription for payment devices has reached 82 lakh as of July 2023, an increase of 3.8 Lakh devices in the month,” said Paytm in a filing. 

This comes a few days after Paytm unveiled two new variants of its popular soundbox device at an event, which saw chief executive officer (CEO) Vijay Shekhar Sharma pitch for a production-linked-incentive (PLI) scheme for local production of these devices.

The month of June saw a fall in the value of loans disbursed by the company. While there is no clarity on what led to the decline, the month of July was the first full month of operations for its competitor PhonePe’s lending marketplace. 

This renewed competition comes at a time when the fintech major has been its slashing losses by focussing on profitability and shoring up revenues. Paytm saw its consolidated net loss decline to INR 358.4 Cr in Q1 FY24 from INR 645.4 Cr in the year-ago period.

Paytm shares closed 1.2% lower at INR 767.35 on the BSE on Thursday (August 3). 

Note: We at Inc42 take our ethics very seriously. More information about it can be found here.