Ahead of LIC IPO, Paytm Money lets HNIs place Rs 5 lakh of bids via UPI

Ahead of the LIC IPO, Paytm Money Limited (PML)said it will enable high networth individuals (HNIs) to place higher bids of upto Rs 5 lakh for initial public offerings (IPOs) through UPI. The company said it is also offering free demat accounts for lifetime to all.

The launch of HNI investment service is in line with a Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) circular dated April 5, 2022, which mandated higher investments of upto Rs 5 lakh through NPCI UPI as against the previous limit of Rs 2 lakh per user. This change comes into effect for all IPOs post May 1, 2022.

With the introduction of this service, Paytm Money said it will become the first discount broker in the country to allow HNI investors to place higher bids of upto Rs 5,00,000 through UPI, without having to go through Bank ASBA flows.

Varun Sridhar, CEO, Paytm Money, said, “We are the super app of wealth management, giving users the power of investing. The addition of the HNI investor category will allow retail investors to place higher IPO bids through NPCI UPI in a convenient and seamless manner. This new service has been launched in view of the growing appetite for high-value IPOs among Indian investors and comes at an ideal time, right ahead of the much-awaited LIC IPO.

He further added, “We have seen immense growth on the platform organically in such a short period of time. Our aim is to enable new investors in their wealth management journey and so ahead of LIC IPO, we are offering free demat accounts for lifetime.”

The platform boasts of over 8.5 lakh trading accounts along with 9 million registered direct mutual fund investors. Over 75 per cent of users on the platform are below the age of 35. Paytm Money has a total AUM of Rs 11,000 crore, with an average daily turnover of over Rs 70,000 crore.