SUMMARY
The move is in line to become a full-service financial player around credit biz
The company recently got approval for an NBFC license
PayU India is owned by South Africa-based Naspers
Digital payments company PayU India is separating its lending business, PayU Finance India, as a separate entity, as it aims to become a full-service financial player around credit business in the country.
“PayU have conducted internal restructuring of transferring credit business to a separate subsidiary. This is pursuant to our approval of the NBFC license, an important milestone in our credit journey,” the company’s India managing director Jitendra Gupta said in a statement.
After the split, Gupta is expected to lead PayU Finance India as its new chief executive officer. The company had acquired the NBFC company, Sidvik Leasing, and had later renamed PayU Finance India.
“Our credit products have seen some fantastic uptake among the consumers with a customer base of over one million and credit disbursals worth over INR 200 Cr ($28 Mn). We have ambitions to become a full-service financial player and are building a dedicated business around credit,” the company statement said.
The company will be headquartered in Mumbai, with 100 employees from PayU Payments India expected to join the new company, according to a media report.
PayU provides online payment services enabling fast, simple, and efficient payment process for merchants via LazyPay, allowing consumers to process multiple purchases at one go. LazyPay was the consumer brand of Indian fintech company Citrus Pay, and was acquired by Naspers in September 2016 for $130 Mn (INR 919.9 Cr).
Nasper-owned PayU India gathered a revenue of $84.8 Mn (INR 588 Cr) for the period ending March 2018, from $44.35 Mn (INR 311 Cr) the year before, a jump of 92%, according to the company’s filings seen by Inc42.
During the period, LazyPay had gained significant traction reaching over 450K consumers and issuing more than $4 Mn (INR 28.3 Cr) in loans per month.
Major competitors of PayU India include BillDesk, MobiKwik, CCAvenue among others. A month back, digital payments startup Razorpay launched lending marketplace Razorpay Capital, aimed at offering quick settlements and collateral-free loans.
According to Indian Tech Startup Funding Report, 2018, by Inc42 DataLabs, fintech startups secured $1.4 Bn, making it the top funded sector of 2018. Of which, Lendingkart secured the highest funding of $87 Mn, followed by Incred’s $41.9 Mn, in India’s lendingtech sector.
