Page 16 - Fintech Sector

Paytm fiasco: FM Sitharaman to meet heads of fintech firms next week

Amid the ongoing problem faced by leading fintech player Paytm, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has decided to meet heads of financial technology companies next week to persuade them to strictly follow regulatory norms. Paytm Payments Bank Ltd, an entity promoted by One97 Communications Ltd, faced regulatory actions by the Reserve Bank for failure to comply with host of regulatory norms, including Know Your Customer (KYC) guidelines. According to sources, Sitharaman will be meeting CEOs of fintech companies next week to hear their concerns and problems. However, sources said, she will impress upon them the need to abide by regulatory norms as they are dealing with money of individuals. The meeting is expected to see participation from senior officials of Reserve Bank, finance ministry, Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, among others. Last week, the RBI advised customers as well as merchants of Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) to shift their accounts to othe

FinMin to meet fintech startups next week amid Paytm Payments Bank row

The meetings come in the wake of the Paytm Payments Bank crisis triggered by the Reserve Bank of India ordering the banking unit of digital payments firm Paytm to wind down operations

Stock of this non-banking finance company has zoomed 105% in 3 months

Shares of Paisalo Digital rallied 15% to hit a record high of Rs 164 in intra-day trade on Monday, thus surging 63% in past one month on promoter buying and strong December quarter earnings.

Stocktaking on the fintech revolution

Financial economic policy in India holds back the possibilities

Paytm Payments Bank row drew fintechs' focus to compliance of laws: MoS IT

The Reserve Bank's regulatory action on Paytm Payments Bank has drawn the attention of fintech firms to the importance of complying with laws, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar has said. The minister stressed that regulatory compliance cannot be "optional" for companies, rather it is an aspect every entrepreneur must pay full attention to. In an interview to PTI, Chandrasekhar - the minister of state for electronics and IT - said the issue of Paytm Payments Bank is a case where a hard-charging and aggressive entrepreneur has failed to realise the need for regulatory compliance, and that no company can get away if it is non-compliant with law. Any company, be it from India or abroad, big or small, has to abide by the law of the land, the Minister asserted amid the unfolding Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) crisis. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has barred PPBL from accepting new deposits from March 15, and ruled out any review of its action against the company. Chandrasekhar said

Not planning harsher rules to curb fintech, says RBI's P Vasudevan

There are "no harsher measures coming on fintech," P. Vasudevan, an executive director in charge of enforcement at the Reserve Bank of India, said on Friday

Paytm's tentative timeline to restart loan sanctioning ends on Feb 14

The tentative timeline shared by fintech firm Paytm to resolve operational challenges coming in the way of its lending business and restart sanctioning of new loans is ending on February 14. One97 Communications President and Chief Operating Officer Bhavesh Gupta in a company conference call on February 1 had said that the company will not be issuing new loans for "maybe a couple of weeks" before resolving operational challenges posed due to RBI restriction Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL). The central bank, on January 31, directed it to stop accepting deposits or top-ups in any customer accounts, wallets, FASTags and other instruments after February 29. While the lending business of Paytm is not linked with PPBL, there are around 10-15 per cent of Paytm merchants, which are around 60,000-70,000 merchants, who are estimated to have autopay mandate set up through their PPBL account. Paytm needs to migrate repayments linked to PPBL to other banks to avoid disruption in repayments.

Paytm hiring for various positions across products, business divisions

Paytm, whose payments bank venture is facing regulatory action, is hiring for various positions across product and business divisions, according to a blog. The blog posted on Paytm's website said recruitment partners are continuing to see high interest from top talents in the country to join the company. Page Group, a recruitment partner of Paytm, said the company is currently hiring for product and business positions. "We have been recruiting high calibre and premium talent for the Paytm business for a while now, and expect the trend to continue. We are actively seeking individuals for product and business positions at Paytm, and there continues to be strong interest from quality candidates for these roles," PageGroup MD Ankit Agarwala said in the blog. The company is going through a crisis situation due to restrictions imposed by the Reserve Bank of India on its associate entity Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL), which houses wallet and UPI services that are provided through the

Paytm hits new low, falls 10% after Macquarie slashes target to Rs 275

Macquarie sharply cut the target price to Rs 275 from Rs 650, driven by a reduction in revenues across various segments

A moment of reflection for startup founders

If there's one lesson fintech stars can draw from Paytm's regulatory challenges, it's not to take their stardom for granted

Global fintech investment drops to 5-year low, India funding halves to $3 bn

Geopolitics conflicts, the high interest rate environment, and the barren exit environment across regions saw fintech investors holding onto their cash throughout much of the year.

Ashneer files plea in NCLT, seeks exemptions in petition against BharatPe

BharatPe co-founder and former managing director Ashneer Grover has filed a plea before NCLT seeking waiver over a petition earlier filed by him alleging oppressive conduct and mismanagement by the board of the fintech firm. On this, the Delhi bench of National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Monday issued a notice, seeking reply from BharatPe and other respondents and listed the matter for the next hearing in April. Last December, Grover had filed a plea before NCLT alleging oppressive conduct and mismanagement by the board of Resilient Innovations Pvt Ltd, which is doing business as BharatPe, under sections 241 and 242 of the Companies Act 2013. However, section 244 of the Act also mandates that the shareholder, to file an appeal under section 241, should have a minimum of 10 per cent of the shares of the company. It also empowers NCLT "may, on an application made to it in this behalf, waive all or any of the requirements specified" so as to enable a petitioner to apply under sect

Paytm PB aftershocks: Fintechs step up customer outreach with target ads

While Paytm remains the leading player in the PoS segment, competition is heating up

IRIS Business Services Q3 results: Profit increases 19% to Rs 1.76 crore

Global fintech firm IRIS Business Services has reported a profit of Rs 1.76 crore for December quarter 2023-24. In the year-ago period, the profit was Rs 1.48 crore. Revenue in April-December FY24 was Rs 72.35 crore as against Rs 53.47 crore in the year-ago period, the company said in a regulatory filing. During the 9-month period, profit after tax was up 50 per cent from Rs 2.7 crore to Rs 4.06 crore. "The growth in revenues has been driven by the collect segment, which increased sharply to Rs 32.16 crore for the 9 months in FY24 from Rs 17.24 crore in the corresponding period in FY23," it said. It further said growth in the create segment was subdued with revenues going up from Rs 33.19 crore to Rs 36.77 crore. To get customers using other products to switch to ours requires a well funded marketing push which has to wait till we get our funding in place, company CEO S Swaminathan said. While India accounts for 30 per cent of the company's revenues, Africa comes a close second

Paytm secures merchant support, guarantees uninterrupted services

Fintech firm One97 Communications, which owns the Paytm brand, has received support from merchants, and it assured them of continuity of services without any disruption, the company said in a blog on Sunday. The blog post came amid the recent crisis around Paytm Payments Bank Limited (PPBL), an associate company of Paytm, which has been barred by the RBI from accepting deposits or top-ups in customer accounts, wallets, FASTags and other instruments after February 29. Withdrawal or utilisation of balances by its customers from their accounts, including savings bank accounts, current accounts, prepaid instruments, FASTags, and National Common Mobility Cards, are to be permitted without any restrictions up to their available balance. "We assure our users and merchant partners that the Paytm app and services continue to operate at full capacity. In instances, where our associate Paytm Payments Bank acts as a back-end bank, we can seamlessly transition these services to other partner ...

Banks are catching up with fintech companies: BlackSoil co-founder

ANKUR BANSAL, co-founder and director of BlackSoil, feels that fintech will see a shakeout even as regulations bring in more clarity enabling the sector to grow

Zaggle Prepaid Q3 results: Profit rises 92.7% to Rs 19.5 cr, revenue up 35%

New credit card offerings and lower finance costs helped fintech player Zaggle Prepaid Ocean Services Ltd post a strong 35 per cent growth in revenue in the December quarter, a top company official said on Friday. The fintech player, which provides spend management products and solutions, also said that its recent Rs 200 crore deal with Torrent Gas Ltd offers significant volume and margin potential. Zaggle reported its all-time high quarterly revenue of Rs 199.5 crore for the October-December quarter of 2023-24, a growth of 35.1 per cent over Rs 147 crore in the year-ago period. "The record-breaking performance is a result of our product portfolio's strategic diversification and the successful launch of commercial credit card offerings," Zaggle executive chairman and founder Raj P Narayanam said. "With Torrent Gas Ltd joining as a client, we have entered the fleet loyalty card program, offering significant volume and margin potential," he said, adding that the company is tapping in

RBI clampdown on Paytm Payments Bank followed persistent non-compliance

"When such constructive engagement does not work or when the regulated entity doesn't take effective action, we go for imposing supervisory or business restrictions," Guv Das said

Paytm CEO meets Union FM Sitharaman, discusses ongoing challenges: Report

The company, earlier said that it filed a specific clarification on Sunday, categorically denying any investigation by the Enforcement Directorate on OCL, our associates, and our management

FIU, ED seek report from RBI on action taken to bar Paytm's banking unit

The Enforcement Directorate and the Financial Intelligence Unit have asked the RBI to share its report on the recent action taken to bar Paytm Payments Bank Ltd from accepting deposits or top-ups in customer accounts, official sources said on Tuesday. Federal agencies ED and FIU, tasked with checking violations under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), are already probing matters related to the payment gateway under provisions of the anti-money laundering law. Following the action of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Paytm has said it did no wrong and asserted that its brand owner company One97 Communications, founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL) are not being investigated for money laundering or foreign exchange violations. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has asked the RBI to share its latest report so that it can analyse if it needs to initiate a probe against PPBL, a senior official told PTI. The agency has been probing Paytm and oth