About One 97 Communications Limited

NSE: PAYTM

Paytm was founded in August 2010 with an initial investment of ₹9.39 Cr. (US$ 2 Mn.)¹ by Vijay Shekhar Sharma in Noida, Delhi NCR. It began as a platform for prepaid mobile and Direct-to-Home (DTH) recharges. Since 2013, it has expanded its services and developed into a full-fledged Fintech to offer payments, loans, marketing services, which extend to both B2B and B2C segments. Paytm’s current goal is to expand its customer base to 500 million users. The company’s core business is payment facilitation through its mobile app. However, it now generates revenue through three major product and service suites:

1. Payment Services:  (Revenue: ₹6,236 Cr. in FY24, 62% of total)

Paytm's Monthly Transacting Users (MTU) grew by 16% year-on-year (YoY) to 9.6 Cr. in FY24, up from 8.2 Cr. in FY23. On the merchant side, Paytm offers solutions for payment acceptance, offering QR codes and Soundbox devices for small merchants, helping with better reconciliation and trust in mobile payments. Mid-sized and large retailers use Paytm’s Point-of-Sale (POS) devices for mobile and card payments, generating Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) and subscription revenues. The company's Gross Merchandise Value (GMV) grew 39% YoY, reaching ₹18.3 lakh Cr. in FY24, up from ₹13.2 lakh Cr. in FY23.

2. Financial Services: (Revenue: ₹2,004 Cr. in FY24 , 20% of total)

The loan distribution business saw strong growth, with lending partners disbursing loans worth ₹52,390 Cr. in FY24, a 48% YoY increase from ₹35,378 Cr. in FY23. Out of this, ₹25,264 Cr. was disbursals from postpaid loans, which have since been paused. Paytm has also ventured into Default Loss Guarantee (DLG) loans to boost its loan book. Current AUM for this is ₹1,651 Cr. with the DLG on first losses of up to ₹225 Cr.

3. Marketing Services: (Revenue: ₹1,738 Cr. in FY24 , 18% of total)

Paytm helps merchant partners grow their businesses by leveraging consumer traffic and offering marketing services such as selling tickets, deals, and gift vouchers. As of March 2024, Paytm had 12 lakh activated co-branded credit cards. Paytm earns upfront revenue from card activation. Additionally, the company receives a portion of the interchange fee for the lifetime of the card.

In FY24, Paytm had an average of 43,960 active employees on roll, including all subsidiaries. Of these, 35,512 employees were engaged in sales. The company also engages contractors to provide a temporary workforce. The company has 70 offices across India, and 14 offices internationally but no manufacturing plants. As of March 31, 2024, Paytm had 29 subsidiaries, 10 associates, and 3 joint ventures in India and abroad.

Source: Annual Report