New Delhi: One97 Communications, a supplier of mobile internet services, announced on Wednesday that the number of payment devices subscribed by its merchants increased by 109% between June 2022 and June 2023. One97 Communications is the parent business of the digital payments and financial services provider Paytm. The company, which competes with PhonePE, Gpay, and other digital payment apps, claimed in an exchange filing that as of June this year, 79 lakhs of merchants were paying subscription fees for its payment devices, such as Soundbox and point-of-sale (PoS) machines, up from 38 lakhs in June of last year.
“We continue to strengthen our leadership in offline payments, with 79 lakh merchants now paying subscriptions for payment devices, an increase of 11 lakh devices in the quarter. With our subscription as a service model, the strong adoption of devices drives subscription revenues and higher payment volumes while increasing the funnel for our merchant loan distribution,” the statement said.
“Our focus over the past few quarters continues to be on payment volumes that generate profitability for us, either through net payments margin or direct upsell potential.”
In the meantime, Paytm’s loan distribution business, which it operates in conjunction with central banks and non-banking financial institutions, continued to grow. Total disbursements through its platform for the June quarter increased by 167% YoY to Rs 14845 crore from 5554 crore in the same quarter last year. From 85 lakh during the June Quarter of the previous year to 1.28 crore during the June quarter of 2023, the number of loans or loan volume disbursed likewise grew by 51%.
Paytm hopes to add three to four more with seven active loan partners in FY24. The company had previously announced its relationship with Shriram Finance for loan distribution. Over 34 million merchants were registered with Paytm, and 92 million people used the service monthly to purchase.
