Paytm aims to disburse ₹1000 crore in small loans by March – that’s twice as much as last year

The company plans to disburse ₹1,000 crore in loans by March 2021, up from the ₹550 crore in the last financial year.
Paytm’s lending operations began in partnership with various NBFCs and banks.
The Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led Paytm has been focussed on the merchants’ category for the growth, where it claims to have 50% of the market share in merchant payments.

Indian digital payments leader Paytm has said that it’s doubling down on its loan disbursement targets for the year. The company plans to disburse ₹1,000 crore in loans by March 2021, up from the ₹550 crore disbursed in the last financial year.

The company offers collateral-free loans up to ₹500,000. “Loan repayment is primarily collected from the merchant’s daily settlement with Paytm and there are no prepayment charges on these loans,” said the company.

Paytm’s lending operations began in partnership with various NBFCs and banks. Paytm Payments Bank is not yet allowed to lend according to the RBI. Earlier in 2018, Paytm had also partnered with Clix Capital to disburse loans.

“With our collateral-free instant loans, we are trying to help kirana stores & other small business owners who have been left behind by the traditional banking sector and do not have easy access to loans and credit. Going forward, we will especially focus on EDC merchants and provide higher loan amount based on their EDC transactions,” said Bhavesh Gupta, CEO, Paytm Lending. Gupta was brought on board Paytm last year, from his previous role of CEO of Clix Capital.

The Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led Paytm has been focussed on the merchants’ category for the growth where it claims to have 50% of the market share in merchant payments. A Goldman Sachs report shares that Paytm is currently accepted by 17 million merchants, of which 70% are active, and that financial services is a significant growth bet for Paytm.

Paytm also gives tough competition to the likes of Khatabook with its Paytm for Business app where it helps merchants track payments instantly, navigate through the past collections, and track settlements.