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The technology platform for providing "<keyword id="22918315" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="frictionless-credit" source="keywords">frictionless credit</keyword>" launched by the <keyword id="19899810" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Reserve-Bank-of-India" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Reserve Bank of India" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Reserve Bank of India">Reserve Bank of India</keyword> (<keyword id="19899808" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="RBI" source="keywords">RBI</keyword>) last year as a pilot project will soon be introduced nationwide soon, said Reserve Banks of India Governor, <keyword id="19913110" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="shaktikanta-das" source="keywords">Shaktikanta Das</keyword> on Monday. This technology platform will be named "<keyword id="22918314" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Unified-Lending-Interface" source="keywords">Unified Lending Interface</keyword> (ULI)", Das said while speaking in Bengaluru at the event of the Global Conference on Digital Public Infrastructure and Emerging Technologies. Governor Das said "Just like <keyword id="19900911" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="UPI" source="keywords">UPI</keyword> transformed the payments ecosystem, we expect that ULI will play a similar role in transforming the lending space in India. The 'new trinity' of JAM-UPI-ULI will be a revolutionary step forward in India's <keyword id="20018890" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital-infrastructure" source="keywords">digital infrastructure</keyword> journey." The ULI platform facilitates a seamless and consent-based flow of digital information, including even land records of various states, from multiple data service providers to lenders. The technology platform introduced last year as a pilot projects cuts down the time taken for credit appraisal, especially for small and rural borrowers. Das stated that the ULI architecture has common and standardised APIs, designed for a 'plug and play' approach to ensure digital access to information from diverse sources. "This reduces the complexity of multiple technical integrations. It enables borrowers to get the benefit of seamless delivery of credit, and quicker turnaround time without requiring extensive documentation. By digitising access to customer's financial and non-financial data that otherwise resided in disparate silos, ULI is expected to cater to large unmet demand for credit across various sectors, particularly for agricultural and MSME borrowers," the RBI governor stated. Showing confidence in the newly launched ULI, Das said, "Just like UPI transformed the payments ecosystem, "we expect that ULI will play a similar role in transforming the lending space in India." Speaking about the success of Unified Payment Interface (UPI) Das said, "The current ecosystem of digital payments in India offers a bouquet of simple, safe, and secure options for instant or quick transfer of funds, both large and small value, for businesses and individuals." Das further stated stated that the apex bank is consistently trying to secure the financial system in the country. "We are constantly working on devising policies, approaches, systems and platforms that will make our financial sector stronger, nimble and customer-centric," Das said. Additionally, Das also highlighted that the central bank is constantly working on devising policies, systems, and platforms that will make the financial sector stronger, nimble and customer-centric. Das said that over the last decade, the traditional banking system has undergone an unprecedented technological transformation. By all indications, this process is likely to become even more intense in the coming years, he said. On the country's experience in DPI, he said, "DPI has enabled India to achieve in less than a decade levels of financial inclusion that would have otherwise taken several decades or even more" He also emphasised that UPI system has the potential to evolve into a cheaper and quicker alternative to available channels of cross-border remittances. The Governor also stressed that financial institutions should be abundantly mindful of associated risks of Artificial Intelligence.

After UPI, RBI set to launch Unified Lending Interface (ULI) for friction-less credit

<ul><li><keyword id="7349800" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="bharatpe">BharatPe</keyword> plans to substantially scale up its presence by adding another 30 cities to its list by December 2020. </li><li>The cities, spread across India, include <keyword id="6730905" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="tier-1-cities">tier-1 cities</keyword> like Kolkata and Chennai, emerging cities like Coimbatore, Kochi, Dehradun, Nagpur, Bhubaneswar, Patna as well as tourist hubs like Amritsar, Varanasi, Agra, Allahabad, amongst others. </li><li>The company aims to add another 3 million merchants to its existing list of over 5 million merchants by the end of FY 21.</li></ul><keyword id="9492517" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="merchant-payment">Merchant payment</keyword> company BharatPe has announced its aggressive expansion plans across tier-1, 2 and 3 cities in the country. The company, that is currently present in 35+ cities, plans to substantially scale up its presence by adding another 30 cities to its list by December 2020. The cities, spread across India, include tier-1 cities like Kolkata and Chennai, emerging cities like Coimbatore, Kochi, Dehradun, Nagpur, Bhubaneswar, Patna as well as tourist hubs like Amritsar, Varanasi, Agra, Allahabad, amongst others. The company aims to add another 3 million merchants to its existing list of over 5 million merchants by the end of FY 21. The announcement is in line with the company’s commitment to become the preferred financial services partner for over 60 million SMEs (Small and Medium Enterprises) in India. The company will be rolling out it’s one-of-a-kind interoperable UPI QR with zero transaction fees, and it’s recently launched zero rental, zero fees card acceptance machine (BharatSwipe) in the new cities. Additionally, BharatPe would be offering attractive collateral-free loans of upto Rs 7 lakhs at competitive interest rates to merchants, with the objective of helping them grow their business. BharatPe will offer its hybrid repayment model with a combination of daily QR/ POS collection and weekly payments made directly from the bank account to the merchants availing loans. Speaking on the expansion, <keyword id="4534514" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Suhail-Sameer">Suhail Sameer</keyword>, Group President, BharatPe, said, “The pandemic has fuelled exponential growth of digital payments industry in the country as a large number of customers are opting for cashless payments. We have seen our business grow manifold over the last few months. Our payments vertical has recorded consistent double digit growth on a month-on- month basis. Also, our lending vertical has scaled very well and we are on track to disburse loans of Rs 1000 crores by the end of the year.” Added Suhail, “We are committed to create a well-rounded financial ecosystem for SMEs with our variety of products including payments, loans, gold and insurance. This decision to double our footprint in the country is in line with this. We have handpicked cities that are either business hubs or emerging commercial centres, for this phase of expansion. We look forward to enabling millions of more businesses in the new cities we are venturing in.” BharatPe will be rolling out its range of financial services for merchants, across all the new cities. These include Amritsar, Kota, Guntur, Kakinada, Rajmundri, Jodhpur, Coimbatore, Madurai, Nagpur, Kochi, Trichy, Raipur, Trivandrum, Bilaspur, Durg Bhilai, Gwalior, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Patna, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Guwahati, Jamshedpur, Chennai, Agra, Allahabad, Aurangabad, Dehradun, Patiala, Rohtak, Silchar, Agartala, Shillong and Varanasi.

BharatPe to add another 3 million merchants to its existing list of over 5 million merchants by the end of FY21

<keyword id="6354335" type="CITY" weightage="100" keywordseo="reserve-bank-of-india">Reserve Bank of India</keyword> (<keyword id="30067" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="RBI">RBI</keyword>) has published a discussion paper declaring guidelines for <keyword id="2814950" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="peer-to-peer-lending">peer-to-peer lending</keyword> companies, in which it says that "to ensure that there is enough skin in the game at a later date, leverage ratio may be prescribed so that the platforms do not expand with indiscriminate leverage". 
 
The paper has got positive reactions from peer-to-peer lending start-ups, who however want clarifications on requirements like a direct lending process and leverage ratio. The start-ups have time till May 31 to file their feedback. 
 
These peer-to-peer lending start-ups including i-lend, Faircent, LenDenClub and Micrograam, who have decided to seek clarification son this requirement. "The question of leverage ratio doesn't arise when you're not lending on your balance sheet," said VVSSB Shankar, founder of i-lend. Shankar would be discussing the matter with RBI officials. 
 
"From the transaction amount, we have kept aside a certain amount that could act as a lender protection fund. One could consider keeping aside a capital of .2% which can be utilised by the lenders in case of a default," said Bhavin Patel, cofounder of Len-DenClub. "Leverage ratio is not the right way to go about it". LenDenClub said that it would like RBI to lower the Rs 2-crore capital requirement for peer-to-peer lending companies. 
 
Along with the clarifications on requirements, these start-ups also want clarifications on the process of transferring money from a lender to a borrower. For this, many such companies are presuming a nodal account will be used. 
 
"With UPI (the government's unified payment interface that will make digital money transactions smoother and safer) coming in, the tech-enabled will ensure the money can move directly from point A to point B. This money would be outside of the accounts of the intermediary. However, until then it's likely that nodal accounts will be used," said Rajat Gandhi, founder of Faircent. 
 
 
These P2P lending companies, about 30 such in India, allow individuals to lend and borrow from others using their online platforms, but have been largely unregulated until now. 
 
Now that the guidelines have been issued, start-ups also seek clarification on the expectations regarding their brick-and-mortar presence. 
 
<a href="http://www.worldoflending.com/admin/blog/1453410458_peer-to-peer-lending-india.jpg">Image source</a>

Peer-to-peer lending start-ups get RBI guidelines, but want further clarifications

Reserve Bank <keyword id="20595794" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Governor-Shaktikanta-Das" source="keywords">Governor Shaktikanta Das</keyword> on Thursday said the fundamental drivers of the <keyword id="6356076" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="indian-economy" source="Orion">Indian economy</keyword> are gaining momentum and the country is moving on a sustainable growth path. In the inaugural address at <keyword id="23048827" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="FIBAC-2024" source="Orion">FIBAC 2024</keyword>, the governor said that massive changes are taking shape in various economic sectors and markets, and the country is geared for orbital shifts. "Our nation's journey towards becoming an advanced <keyword id="19931030" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="economy" source="keywords">economy</keyword> is drawing strength from a unique blend of factors, and these factors would include a young and a dynamic population, a resilient and diverse economy, robust democracy, and a rich tradition of entrepreneurship and innovation," Das said. Stressing that India's growth story is intact and banks have robust balance sheets, he exhorted the private sector to step up investments in a big way. He said data actually shows that the fundamental growth drivers of the Indian economy are actually gaining momentum and they are not slowing. "This gives us the confidence to say that the Indian growth story remains intact," he said. In his speech, the governor said past reforms like GST and IBC have yielded long-term positive outcomes, and emphasised the need for further reforms in land, labour, and agri markets. While acknowledging that headline inflation matters, he said the balance between inflation and growth is well-poised. With monsoon progressing well and healthy Kharif sowing, food inflation outlook could become more favourable, he added. Das further said the <keyword id="20172097" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="financial-sector" source="keywords">financial sector</keyword> must expand access and harness digital platforms to drive inclusive growth. He also made a strong case for tailored products and services for women-led businesses and MSMEs without diluting underwriting standards. Das further noted that only regulated entities will be allowed on Unified Lending Interface (ULI) platform to ensure prudent lending. "ULI will not be a select club of few players," Das said.

Fundamental drivers of economy gaining momentum, India on sustainable growth path: RBI Governor Das

<ul><li><keyword id="6357120" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="paytm" source="Orion">Paytm</keyword> operator One97 Communications’ shares surged by over 5% on Monday after the company reported sustained business growth in Q4. </li><li>The payments platform reported a sharp contraction in its losses to ₹168 crore in Q4 from ₹761 crore a year ago. </li><li>Paytm’s Q4 performance has brokerages bullish on the company’s outlook, who now expect an upside of up to 59% in the company’s stock over the next 12 months. </li></ul>Paytm operator One97 Communications’ shares surged by over 5% on Monday after the company reported sustained business growth for the second consecutive quarter and a sharp reduction in losses to ₹168 crore from ₹761 crore a year ago. The company’s revenue surged 52% year-on-year (YoY) to ₹2,335 crore in the March quarter, while its gross merchandise value rose 40% to ₹3.62 lakh crore during this period. Other key business metrics like merchant base and loan disbursements also witnessed strong growth during the fourth quarter – loan disbursements rose 253% YoY to ₹12,554 crore, while the merchant base grew 25% to 33.5 million in Q4. Paytm managed to beat analyst expectations in terms of the bottom line, largely thanks to the full recognition of UPI incentives of ₹182 crore that it received in Q4. For FY23, Paytm’s revenue grew 61% to ₹7,990 crore, primarily driven by monetisation of its payment services and improving scale of its lending business. Its net loss narrowed to ₹1,776 crore in FY23 from ₹2,393 crore in FY22. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Strong Q4 has brokerages bullish on the company’s outlook" comment="subhead" text="Strong Q4 has brokerages bullish on the company’s outlook">Strong Q4 has brokerages bullish on the company’s outlook</cmsannotation> The payments platform’s Q4 performance has brokerages bullish on the company’s outlook. Markets lapped up the company’s Q4 results, with the stock rising over 5% in mid-market trade on Monday. So far in 2023, Paytm’s shares are up by over 36%. Brokerage estimates suggest that there is further upside of up to 59% over the next 12 months – with a target price of ₹1,150 per share – as compared to the current market price of ₹722. “Paytm’s revenue growth profile is in line with its India internet peers, with profitability higher, and valuations that are at the lower end against its peers,” global brokerage Goldman Sachs said. The brokerage added that it expects Paytm to become the most profitable company in its new-age internet startups universe in FY25. Citi Research outlined that Paytm’s business model has other tailwinds as well, which will continue to boost its revenue and bottom line going forward. “Paytm has several growth and profitability tailwinds in our view – digital payments continue to see robust growth and [there is] significant headroom for increase in penetration of lending products to existing consumers,” Citi Research said in a note. Overall, brokerage recommendations are largely bullish, with only Yes Securities giving the stock a ‘neutral’ rating. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Brokerage </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Recommendation </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Target price </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Upside </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Goldman Sachs </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Buy </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹1,150 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">59% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Citi Research </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Buy </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹1,144 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">58% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">JP Morgan </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Overweight </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹950 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">32% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Motilal Oswal </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Buy </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹900 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">25% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Macquarie Research </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Outperform </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹800 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;background-color:#d9d9d9;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">11% </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Yes Securities </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Neutral </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹750 </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:bottom;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">4% </td></tr></tbody></table> Note: Upside as compared to current market price <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="BNPL portfolio gets healthier" comment="subhead" text="BNPL portfolio gets healthier">BNPL portfolio gets healthier</cmsannotation> Paytm’s buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) portfolio has been a concern for investors. After remaining unchanged for five consecutive quarters, Paytm reported an improvement in its expected credit loss (ECL) in its BNPL portfolio to 0.75-1% in Q4 from 1.1-1.3% in Q3. Another metric that has seen an improvement in Q4 is the bounce rate in Paytm’s BNPL portfolio, which came down to 10.5-12% in Q4 from 11-13% in Q3 in the postpaid segment. “Sustainability of Paytm’s credit metrics has been a key investor concern, and these results should help build confidence around the scalability of the company’s lending book,” Goldman Sachs said. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Future catalysts for the Paytm stock" comment="subhead" text="Future catalysts for the Paytm stock">Future catalysts for the <keyword id="12401019" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="paytm-stock" source="Orion">Paytm stock</keyword></cmsannotation> Looking beyond the buzzwords, the next set of catalysts for the Paytm stock will be its continued progress towards profitability and clearing regulatory hurdles. “We see resolution of outstanding regulatory issues (ban on Paytm Payments Bank and online merchant onboarding) as the next set of catalysts for the stock,” Goldman Sachs added. The recent push for enabling access to credit via UPI (unified payments interface) using RuPay credit cards is also another aspect to watch out for, according to the analysts at Citi Research. Overall, the broad consensus among brokerages is that Paytm will achieve operating profitability by FY25. While lending partner concentration is one of the key aspects to monitor, the company is working on diluting it with plans to onboard up to 4 more partners in FY24. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/adani-group-stocks-tumble-after-msci-tweak-market-capitalisation-falls-by-23000-crore/articleshow/100066101.cms">Adani group stocks tumble after MSCI tweak, market capitalisation falls by ₹23,000 crore</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/britannias-q4-net-profit-rises-47-yoy-to-559-crore-on-softer-input-costs/articleshow/100017366.cms">Britannia’s Q4 net profit rises 47% YoY to ₹559 crore on softer input costs</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/indigo-airlines-stock-to-surge-further-as-go-firsts-troubles-mount/articleshow/100009541.cms">The skies are clearer for IndiGo stock to surge further as Go First’s troubles mount</a>

Paytm shares surge 5% on sustained Q4 growth, brokerages see up to 59% upside

<keyword id="6357120" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="paytm" source="Orion">Paytm</keyword> has been witnessing a sustained growth in revenues, which reached ₹2,062 crores in the Dec-23 quarter, representing a 2.5x growth from ₹815 crores in Mar-21. The company’s strong growth momentum continued during the third quarter of FY23 due to an increase in merchant subscription revenues, growth in loan distribution, and momentum in the commerce business. In a letter to shareholders, Paytm’s Founder &amp; CEO, Vijay Shekhar Sharma said Paytm achieved the milestone of EBITDA before ESOP cost profitability in Q3 without losing sight of growth opportunities and keeping all compliances as well as risk factors under strict watch. “I believe the opportunity in our country for newer payment and credit disbursement solutions is huge, which gives us quality revenue and attractive profit pools to address,” Sharma wrote. Paytm outlined the various growth drivers for our businesses in the earnings presentation. India is witnessing a revolution in the field of digital payments but Paytm believes these are still in the early days with massive growth potential. Growth in Unified Payments Interface (<keyword id="6358921" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="upi" source="Orion">UPI</keyword>), cards, and EMI-led payments is yet to reach the masses. The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has been innovating with UPI to increase the adoption of digital payments. Superior user experience, interoperability and security have made Paytm UPI the most preferred payment option for Indians. Paytm has launched UPI LITE which allows instant, multiple small-value UPI payments having a value of less than or equal to ₹200. UPI LITE will further enhance user experience and unclutter their bank statements. Paytm has introduced RuPay Credit Card on UPI, enhancing the payment experience for both consumers and merchants. Customers will benefit from the ease and the increased opportunity to use their credit cards and merchants will benefit from the increase in consumption by being part of the credit ecosystem with the acceptance of credit cards using assets like QR codes. In the near term, Paytm believes that India could have the potential of 10 crore merchant entities and more than 50 crore payment customers. Subscriptions for payment and other services will be a large market. On the lending side, Paytm feels there is a long way to go, and is working on integrating with large NBFCs and banks to leverage the full potential of small digital credit on the Paytm platform. In Q3 FY23, the value of loans disbursed by Paytm’s financial institution partners through Paytm’s platform grew to ₹9,958 crores, a growth of 357% YoY and 36% QoQ. Disclaimer : This article has been reproduced from Paytm's blog. The opinions expressed are those of the organization and do not necessarily reflect the views of Business Insider India. For further details, you can get in touch with our team on insiderstudios@businessinsider.in

From UPI innovations to digital credit potential – these are the growth drivers in Paytm’s business

<ul><li>Factors like offshoring, digitisation and decarbonisation are set to drive India’s ascent as the world’s third largest economy. </li><li>India's per-capita energy consumption is likely to rise 60% and most of this demand will be met by renewable energy. </li><li>The number of households earning in excess of $35,000 a year is likely to rise fivefold in the coming decade to over 25 million.</li></ul>India could well be on its way to becoming the world’s third largest economy and stock market if <keyword id="48670" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="morgan-stanley" source="Orion">Morgan Stanley</keyword>’s equity strategists and economists are to be believed. In its report titled ‘Why This Is India’s Decade’, the global investment bank cites several factors like the rise in offshoring, investments in manufacturing, energy transition and the country’s digital infrastructure would make this a reality. Morgan Stanley, has remained bullish on the India story for years now, unlike some other global banks that Modi-fied their view on India after the taper tantrum of 2013 and the subsequent meltdown in markets. Over the years, Morgan Stanley’s celebrated strategist <keyword id="44540" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="ridham-desai" source="Orion">Ridham Desai</keyword> has steadfast in his analysis on the Next India. Many of his projections have played out like the one on retail investors leading the charge in Indian equities. After two years of the pandemic, during which foundations of the future have been laid, the theme has now shifted to New India. The strategy report titled ‘Why This is India’s Decade’ by Morgan Stanley says: “Our Next India thematic looked at the trends and policies shaping the future of India's economy. As those trends have largely come to pass, with this report we shift from The Next India to The New India thematic to mark this transition. The four global trends of Demographics, Digitalization, Decarbonization and Deglobalization are favouring New India.” The first factor that will continue to benefit India is offshoring. India has been the back office for the world for more than two decades. But the pandemic has only accelerated the pace of this trend, as more companies look at offshoring various functions to India. In a multi-polar world, now even manufacturing is slated to shift India. Morgan Stanley has spent considerable time in its report on why India would rise in the world economy. Digitisation and the India stack is a story that is not very often seen in its entirety. The India Stack, digital payments using Unified Payments Interface that can handle large volumes at a small cost is unique to India. The digital revolution will transform how India lends, pays and insures itself. Says Morgan Stanley, “The digital revolution has already changed the way India handles documents, invests, and makes payments, and it is also set to alter the way India lends, spends and insures.” <div type="image" title="Ridham Desai, strategist, Morgan Stanley" msid="95256603" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Ridham Desai, strategist, Morgan Stanley&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div> Clean energy and the energy transition are sectors where India is keen to take a lead with Indian behemoths Reliance Industries and Adani Group taking big strides. While the world has seen energy transitions before, what makes India unique is that the consumption of energy and its sources are undergoing a sharp shift. Since consumption of energy is still rising in India, legacy energy assets will not become redundant overnight. These assets will continue to be in use even as greener sources start replacing two-thirds of the demand. Explains MS: “India's energy needs are still growing, and, therefore, legacy capacity using fossil fuels will not be destroyed as it transitions to a higher share of renewables. India's per-capita energy consumption is likely to rise 60%, on our estimates, to about 1450 Watts per day in the coming decade, with two-thirds of the incremental supply coming from renewable sources.” This shift will lead to a virtuous cycle and reduce dependence on imported fuel, risks of price volatility and inflationary pressures. The future definitely looks brighter for India as it makes this shift, leading to better living conditions. No prizes for guessing that a combination of these factors would be good for consumer demand and equity markets. Indians are expected to spend more on discretionary spends, as per-capita GDP has crossed the important $2,000 mark. According to MS, “India's income pyramid offers unique breadth of consumption, in our view, with the top end spending like the richest in the world and the bottom end still relatively poor. The number of households earning in excess of $35,000/year is likely to rise fivefold in the coming decade, to over 25 million. The implications are 1) GDP is likely to cross $7.5 trillion by 2031, more than double the current level, 2) a discretionary consumption boom and 3) 11% annual compounding of market capitalization to $10 trn in the coming decade.” The only risk to this Goldilocks assessment is the risk of a prolonged recession globally, adverse geopolitical risks and an unstable government at the centre in India. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/gautam-adani-puts-in-place-plan-to-take-group-valuation-to-1-trillion/articleshow/94857619.cms">Gautam Adani puts in place plan to take Group valuation to $1 trillion</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/5g-rollout-to-give-business-a-fillip-says-airtel-ceo-gopal-vittal/articleshow/95230944.cms">5G rollout to give business a fillip, says Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal</a>

This is India’s decade and GDP is likely to cross $7.5 trillion by 2031, says Morgan Stanley

<ul><li>Zomato had a higher market cap than One97 Communications, the listed parent of the digital payments giant <keyword id="6357120" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="paytm" source="Orion">Paytm</keyword>.</li><li>Part of the sell-off in <keyword id="4326962" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="paytm-shares" source="Orion">Paytm shares</keyword> could also be a reflection of the market mood.</li><li>But, there is a lot more that the street is worried about.</li><li>Founder <keyword id="198636" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vijay-shekhar-sharma" source="Orion">Vijay Shekhar Sharma</keyword> wants the market to be excited about Paytm as a superapp but many others have argued that a smartphone itself is a super app.</li><li>Check out the latest news and updates on<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market"> Business Insider</a>.</li></ul>Two of India’s most-awaited tech IPOs, that of Zomato and Paytm, came with a lot of anxiety around the price at which the shares were being sold to the first lot of public investors. Zomato still made some money for those who got the shares in the initial public offering (IPO) but those who got shares in the Paytm IPO have lost 27% on the opening day. By noon, Zomato had a higher market cap than One97 Communications, the listed parent of the digital payments giant Paytm. The overall market mood played a role in pushing down Paytm’s share price, Deven Choksey, managing director of KR Choksey Shares and Securities, told Business Insider. The sell-off seen earlier in the week intensified on Thursday (the day of Paytm’s market Debut) and 42 out of the Nifty 50 stocks were in the red. But that’s not the only reason why people sold Paytm shares. <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; table-layout: fixed; width: 468pt;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Company </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Valuation pre-IPO </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Valution sought in IPO</td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Market cap, as on November 18 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Zomato </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$5.8 billion </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$8.1 billion</td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹1,21,731 crore ($16.3 billion) </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Paytm </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$16 billion </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">$19.9 billion</td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">₹1,01,399 crore ($13.6 billion) </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table>Source: Companies, BSE It’s not that Paytm's advisors didn't see it coming. According to a Bloomberg report <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/paytm-may-drop-its-pre-ipo-sale-as-advisors-recommend-lower-valuation/articleshow/87187525.cms">published in October</a>, Paytm was advised to go for a lower valuation than $20 billion in its pre-IPO round but the company decided to skip the round altogether. Even stock brokerage firm Macquarie had given Paytm a with an underperform rating, and projected that the stock may fall to as much as ₹1,200 (compared to an issue price of ₹2,150) any time in the next one year . Interestingly, Paytm was the highest valued Indian startup between 2019 to me this year. The company got a valuation of $19.9 billion in its public issue. The only smile that Paytm believers could steal was thanks to the meme fest on Twitter. <div type="image" title="Zomato is now bigger than Paytm — reasons why the market is not excited about Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s vision of a superapp" msid="87778007" hostid="261"></div> The drop in Paytm’s share price led to a fall of the stock market. “Today’s fall in the market is also largely due to collateral damage, Paytm loss to investors,” Deven Choksey, managing director of KRChoksey Shares and Securities said. Manoj Dalmia, founder and director of Proficient Equities Private Limited also highlighted three reasons behind Paytm’s weak listing on the stock exchange. The issue ranges from high valuation to intense competition. These are some of the issues pointed out by Manoj Dalmia of Proficient Equities, Scenes by Avalon’s Shashank Udupa, TaxationHelp.in’s Neha Nagar <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none;" class="redcator-table-advance"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Issue </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Reason </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Overvaluation </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">The company is overvalued at a Price to Sales (P/S) value of 26 compared to its global peers, who have a P/S of 0.3-0.5 </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Limited promoters in India </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Nearly 75% of the promoters of Paytm are from other countries and are selling shares worth ₹10,000 crore, which is more than 50% of the issue. </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Not a market leader </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Paytm is not a market leader in any business it operates in. </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Analyst rating </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Falling grey market premium and Macquarie's downrating has pushed the stock into a downward momentum. </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Lack of focused business model </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">It is present in all over the Fintech space but not doing well in any of them while the competition is rising from players like Google, Amazon, PhonePe. </td></tr></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody><tbody></tbody></table> Dalmia is not alone in his pessimism around Paytm’s near-term prospects. “Dabbling in multiple business lines inhibits PayTM from being a category leader in any business except wallets, which are becoming inconsequential with the meteoric rise in UPI payments. Competition and regulation will drive down unit economics and/or growth prospects in the medium term in our view,” Macquarie Research analysts Suresh Ganapathy and Param Subramanian said. ALSO WATCH: Even the biggest of conglomerates find it difficult to do more than two things right, market expert Saurabh Mukherjea told Business Insider. <div type="Youtube" id="kSf5f3gXjKg" title="A ₹3,000-crore fund manager explains why he won&amp;#39;t buy RIL, why he sold ITC and bought HDFC Life" thumbUrl="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/kSf5f3gXjKg/mqdefault.jpg"></div> Paytm is one of the biggest digital payments companies in India with offerings across several digital modes of payments like unified payments interface (UPI), credit and debit cards payments. It also offers wealth management solutions through Paytm Money and banking services through Paytm Payments Banks.The company has 333 million total customers, 114 million annual transacting users and 21 million registered merchants. Paytm has a strong market share in digital payments via the unified payments interface (UPI) but the margin is zero in peer-to-peer payments and wafer thin when merchants get paid. In the personal finance space ⁠— where Paytm sells mutual funds, gold and stocks ⁠— it has a less than 1% market share and makes zero commission, according to Macquarie. In insurance, only one out of 100 policies are sold online and Paytm is pitted against an early bird like Policybazaar as well as legacy banks, which dominate the space. Paytm aims to make money from its lending business. “Since Paytm will largely be engaged in selling down these loans to partner banks or NBFCs (non-banking financial companies) balance sheets, the addressable fee pool is much lower,” said Macquarie, which pegged the potential market for buy now, pay later schemes to be anywhere between $45 billion and $50 billion by March 2026. <div type="image" title="Zomato is now bigger than Paytm — reasons why the market is not excited about Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s vision of a superapp" msid="87778072" hostid="261"></div> Despite a massive user base, the company’s revenue has been marginally declining on a year-on-year (YoY) basis. The company reported a revenue of ₹3,186 crore, with net loss of ₹1,761 crore. “Loss-making businesses will find it hard to sustain premium valuations,” Choksey added. Ravi Singh, head of research and vice president at ShareIndia, noted that Paytm’s future growth is a key to watch for long term investors. “We advise the investors after looking at the overall valuations and earlier losses of Paytm, to book their positions and wait for 1700-1600 levels for fresh investment. Retail investors may remain cautious as the overall market is in profit booking zone pushing maximum stocks in downside territory,” he added. <div type="image" title="Zomato is now bigger than Paytm — reasons why the market is not excited about Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s vision of a superapp" msid="87778081" hostid="261"></div> “People ask me how do you raise money at such a high price? I say, I don’t raise money on a price but I raise money on a purpose,” founder and chief executive officer Vijay Shekhar Sharma. He wanted India to be as excited about his dream of a super app for anything that can be bought and sold online. But many others have argued that a smartphone itself is a super app. Another startup founder Kavin Mittal, the man behind the $1.4 billion Hike Messenger, had similar ambitions but found it to be a misguided goal and dropped the plan in January 2021. Will Sharma prove his detractors wrong with Paytm? Only time will tell. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/news/paytm-ipo-listed-at-discount-of-9-starts-trading-at-1955/articleshow/87772082.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">India’s biggest IPO lists 9% below the IPO price and it may fall even further, warn analysts</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/paytm-shares-listing-below-ipo-price-but-experts-say-not-to-invest/articleshow/87762352.cms">Paytm is likely to list below IPO price and experts advice serious investors to wait a while before buying</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/corporates/news/itc-reportedly-plans-to-spin-out-it-business-itc-infotech/articleshow/87758056.cms">ITC has a ₹2,500 crore IT business hiding in plain sight and that makes the street go Yippee!</a>

Zomato is now bigger than Paytm — reasons why the market is not excited about Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s vision of a superapp

New Delhi, June 16 (IANS) Mobile payments in India initiated by payment apps comprising account-to-account transfers and payments made from stored-value accounts rose 163 per cent to $287 billion in 2019, said a report on Tuesday. By comparison, point-of-sale transactions completed using debit and credit cards, including online and in apps, rose 24 per cent to $204 billion, according to the S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence's 2020 India Mobile Payments Market Report. Card and mobile payments as a percentage of India's GDP rose to 20 per cent in the quarter ended December 31, 2019, the results showed. In fact, card and mobile payments exceeded ATM withdrawals for the first time in 2019, according to the report. "High growth rates in cashless payments seen in recent years are unlikely to repeat amid an economic slowdown due to the novel coronavirus pandemic," Sampath Sharma Nariyanuri, Fintech Analyst at S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence, said in a statement. "However, we expect mobile payments to be more resilient and will gain a bigger lead over card payments, as their uptake will accelerate due to ongoing social distancing measures and concerns over usage of cash and plastic." S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence estimates that card purchases and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) mobile payments represented only 21 per cent of $781 billion in in-store transactions in 2019. Google Pay and PhonePe led UPI payment apps as the two apps handled over seven billion transactions in total, representing more than two-thirds of UPI transactions in 2019. As banks are expected to reduce their exposure to unsecured lending amid the ongoing pandemic, payment apps will have an opportunity to play a mainstream role in providing loans and insurance. Google and Amazon are already offering a far greater breadth of payments in India than in other large markets such as the US, Germany, the UK and Japan, said the report, adding that with the expected entry of Facebook's WhatsApp, US technology companies will extend their dominance in India. --IANS gb/na

Mobile payments in India jumped 163% in 2019: Report

<ul><li>The Indian government has drafted a <keyword id="10714457" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="national-strategy-on-blockchain">National Strategy on Blockchain</keyword>.</li><li>This could be the next big step in the <keyword id="3264646" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="India-stack">India Stack</keyword> – an ambitious technology project Indian government embarked upon over 10 years ago.</li><li>If the implementation of UPI was revolutionary, the scale of changes that the addition of <keyword id="6355684" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Blockchain">blockchain</keyword> infrastructure can facilitate will be way, way bigger.</li></ul>Over 10 years ago, the Indian government opened up its database for private players to build products upon it. The combination of Aadhaar ⁠— the world’s largest identity database ⁠— along with the government’s payments infrastructure, riding on the proliferation of mobile phones, allowed millions of Indians to leapfrog into the digital payments era. <div type="image" title="india stack1" msid="80718503" hostid="261"></div> The sheer scale of the ambition and its success in bringing financial inclusion got the Indian government laurels from some of the biggest icons of modern technology, including <keyword id="45830" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Bill-Gates">Bill Gates</keyword>, Satya Nadella and <keyword id="164502" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sundar-Pichai">Sundar Pichai</keyword>. And now, India is set to add blockchain infrastructure to that India Stack and the benefits could be way, way bigger than what the unified payments interface (UPI) achieved. According to the draft National Strategy on Blockchain, a government-led blockchain infrastructure can become the hub for private developers to build applications. If the India Stack allowed developers to build payments products, access to blockchain infrastructure can revolutionise products and services across healthcare, cyber security, governance, media, logistics &amp; hospitality, education, legal, energy, smart cities and so on. <div type="image" title="Blockchain" msid="80718512" hostid="261"></div> “Blockchain being a single source of truth can be used for authentication and verification of all the transactions and data, produced by various government departments,” said the draft. The government is currently accepting public opinions on the draft until February 16 through the MyGov platform. Now, what can this technology be used for? The latest draft from The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has laid out some of its targets. <ul><li>Setting up a national framework for blockchain.</li><li>Architecture options for blockchain including private participation.</li><li>Applications of national interest for blockchain which includes e-voting, land records, pharmaceutical supply, power distribution, identity management among others.</li><li>Build centres of excellence of blockchain technology.</li></ul>The success of the India Stack is fuelling excitement around the ‘India ledger’ By opening up its database securely for private developers, India had done what no other country had. Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Alphabet, which owns the internet giant Google, in an <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/opinion/interviews/if-upi-payments-work-in-india-it-will-work-everywhere-sundar-pichai-ceo-google/articleshow/56341566.cms">interview</a> in 2017 had said that UPI and India Stack conversations get him excited. Pichai, who had then said we will see products being built out of India for a global stage, has since then gone on to commit $10 billion into the country’s technology ecosystem. <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/digital-india-and-india-stack-have-made-the-country-stand-out-satya-nadella/articleshow/79783076.cms?from=mdr">Talking about India Stack</a>, Microsoft founder Bill Gates had said that India is at the “cusp of leapfrogging” whereas his successor Nadella said ,”'Digital India' framework has made India 'stand out' from the rest of the world”. One of the architects of India Stack Nandan Nilekani, the co-founder of Infosys, had called it the “single most important innovation India needs”. Opening up a blockchain infrastructure for similar innovations may lead to bigger advancements in technology than UPI, which is hailed as India’s most successful digital project. “We can create our own massive blockchain ledger, say India Ledger, where all researchers and experts come together. The third is that we need to create our own journey with blockchain. Now, is the time to really work on these thoughts,” said Prasanna Lohar, head of digital innovations at DCB Bank and a blockchain expert who has been privy to the discussions around blockchain with the government. Along with the blockchain strategy, India is toying with the idea of banning private cryptocurrency and instead bringing out its own “digital rupee”. “Niti Aayog, India's think tank has been working on IndiaChain, India's own ambitious project to develop a nationwide blockchain network, which has revolutionized India’s position as one of the emerging technology players. A few months ago, a blockchain project named Vajra designed by the National Payments Corporation of India for various payment companies providing secured transactions on their online platforms or mobile applications, shows the government is taking proactive initiative to support blockchain,” said Neeraj Khandelwal, co-founder of cryptocurrency and bitcoin startup CoinDCX. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/markets/news/india-becomes-the-first-asian-country-allow-small-investors-to-directly-lend-to-the-government/articleshow/80701417.cms">India becomes the first Asian country to allow small investors to directly lend to the government</a>

The India stack that Bill Gates and Sundar Pichai so love is set to get much bigger – thanks to the Indian government’s new blockchain strategy

<ul><li>WhatsApp finally received the approval to operate <keyword id="3679109" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="UPI-payments">UPI payments</keyword> from the National Payments Council of India.</li><li>WhatsApp’s payments feature has been rolled out in ten Indian regional language versions of WhatsApp. </li><li><keyword id="4878801" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="whatsapp-pay">WhatsApp Pay</keyword>’s entry in payments also comes with a major blow to two of its biggest competitors – <keyword id="2750705" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Google-Pay">Google Pay</keyword> and <keyword id="6357886" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="phonepe">PhonePe</keyword> as NPCI has doled out a 30% cap for third party payment operators.</li><li>Amidst all of this, a beneficiary from WhatsApp Pay’s entry would be Mukesh Ambani’s JioMart.</li></ul>After a long wait, WhatsApp finally received the approval to operate the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) payments from the National Payments Council of India (NPCI). With this, WhatsApp Pay is set to roll out initially with a cap of 20 million users, to make payments ‘as easy as sending a message’. A day after securing the approval, WhatsApp is launching the payments feature in ten Indian regional languages. WhatsApp’s UPI entry begins with a partnership with five banks – ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, Axis Bank, the State Bank of India, and Jio Payments Bank. “With UPI, India has created something truly special and is opening up a world of opportunities for micro and small businesses that are the backbone of the Indian economy. India is the first country to do anything like this. I’m glad we were able to support this effort and work together to help achieve a more digital India,” said Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a statement. But WhatsApp Pay’s entry in payments that was touted to be a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/google-pay-has-a-solid-lead-over-phonepe-paytm-and-amazon-pay-in-india-but-its-biggest-challenge-is-yet-to-come/articleshow/76542701.cms">death card</a> for many others has been accompanied by a major blow to two of its biggest competitors – Google Pay and Walmart-owned PhonePe. NPCI setback for Google Pay, Phone Pe According to the NPCI’s official statement, <keyword id="4052276" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="UPI-transactions">UPI transactions</keyword> on third party payment apps cannot exceed 30% of the overall volume of transactions processed in UPI during the preceding three months. Both Google Pay and PhonePe which are third-party apps will be hit as they currently together hold 40% market share in the UPI segment which has recently crossed the 2 billion transaction count. <div type="image" title="UPI transactions final." msid="79076877" hostid="261"></div> " Digital payments in India is still in its infancy and any interventions at this point should be made with a view to accelerate consumer choice and innovation. A choice based and open model is key to drive this momentum. This announcement has come as a surprise and has implications for hundreds of millions of users who use UPI for their daily payments and could impact the further adoption of UPI and the end goal of financial inclusion," said Sajith Sivanandan, Business Head, Google Pay and Next Billion User initiatives, India on the NPCI cap issue. UPI transactions on PhonePe and Google Pay in October 2020 <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; width: 468pt; table-layout: fixed;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">PhonePe </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">835 million </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Google Pay </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">820 million </td></tr></tbody></table>Source: <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/technology/whatsapp-pay-gets-green-light-to-go-live-on-upi/articleshow/79066734.cms">media reports</a> While the cap will be effective from January 1, 2021, existing third party operators like Google Pay and PhonePe have been given until 2022 to comply with the new rules. UPI’s growth in India and its interoperability has left behind other players who focussed on mobile payments alone. “PPI’s (pre-paid instruments like mobile wallets) which were once expected to scale up rapidly in the retail digital payments industry have clearly not achieved the success that they were expected to achieve. While there could be several explanations for this, one of the main reasons we believe is due to strong competition from UPI,” said a report by JM Financial from September 2020. However, players like Paytm which isn’t a big shareholder in UPI, won’t be affected by the new capping as it is a PSP (Payment service provider). WhatsApp Pay’s potential India is the first country where Facebook had begun its tryst with payments back in 2018 when WhatsApp began beta testing payments in the country. Since then, the company had met with several regulatory hurdles relating to data localisation, which was followed by a promise of storing data locally and WhatsApp Pay submitting revised data localization compliance this year. However, even while it hadn’t officially rolled out, experts have been betting on its popularity because of its existing 400 million user base in India. Analysts at Bernstein (from a June 2020 report) expected WhatsApp Pay’s penetration to increase to 30% (from the current 10%) by FY25. Abhijit Bose, WhatsApp India head, had also shared plans for the company’s foray into financial services in India in July 2020. WhatsApp will soon be driving its financial inclusion push in India with its foray into lending, micro-insurance, and micro-pension products. WhatsApp is currently running pilot programs for the same. “Based on the results, we will co-invest and scale. Even a small conversion of the demand will translate into an infusion of significant savings into the financial system,” <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/07/22/whatsapp-to-pilot-projects-to-deliver-credit-insurance-and-pension-to-users-in-india/">said Bose</a> then. JioMart – the silent winner Amidst all of this, a beneficiary from WhatsApp Pay’s entry would be India’s richest man’s e-commerce bet – Mukesh Ambani’s JioMart. “Payments remains the missing link, the tie up could be a potential game changer with WhatsApp Pay integration with JioMart,” said the report by Bernstein. WhatsApp Pay’s UPI approval and potential tie-up with JioMart after Facebook pumped $5.7 billion in Reliance earlier this year, will see JioMart gain by offering easy ordering and payment facility to its users through WhatsApp. “RIL’s foray into the space leveraging its large ofﬂine distribution capabilities, and integration of ability to order groceries through WhatsApp, a platform with &gt;400 mn MAUs in India,” said a Goldman Sachs report. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/finance/news/whatsapp-pay-upi-services-gets-the-green-signal-from-npci-but-rollout-will-be-in-a-graded-manner/articleshow/79068908.cms">WhatsApp Pay UPI services gets the green signal from NPCI, but rollout will be in a 'graded' manner</a>

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