Paytm

Paytm is the consumer brand of India’s leading mobile internet company One97 Communications. Considered India’s largest mobile commerce platform, Paytm started by offering mobile recharge and utility bill payments and, today, it offers a full marketplace to consumers on its mobile apps. Currently, it serves over 20m registered users and, in its brief lifespan, has scaled to more than 15 Million orders per month. Recently, it was reported that Paytm had recorded a gross transaction value (GTV) of over $50b, while clocking 5.5b transactions in FY19. It also said that it processes more than 400m transactions on its gateway business for its merchants.

At Paytm, customer's have the option of recharging and shopping from whenever, anywhere and are equipped with a secure online wallet called Paytm Cash. And, as of 2019, Paytm has its own credit cards business. Born out of a partnership with Citi Bank, the dynamic would be such that the card issuance and underwriting is handled by Citi Bank, while the digital interface and distribution services is covered by Paytm.

As of 2019, Paytm have around 15m merchants, and plan to add 20m more by the end of 2021.

According to mid-2019 reports from company insiders, Paytm are in talks to acquire Mumbai-based insurance marketplace Coverfox for $100-120 million in an all-cash deal. If the transaction goes through, it will be the largest acquisition by the Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led company, which is making inroads into the financial services segment through its subsidiary, Paytm Money. This will also see Paytm emerge as a direct competitor to the country’s largest online insurance marketplace PolicyBazaar.

In late 2019 Paytm raised a $1bn funding round at a valuation of $16bn. The round was led by T Rowe Price, with other investors including Discovery Capital, D1 Capital, SoftBank and Ant Financial. The new funding will be used to further progress its merchant expansion both on and offline, with a focus on insurance, lending and banking. The company also stated that it was in the final process of applying for a general insurance licence.