Enable Paytm’s merchant partners from India’s small cities and towns to meet their capital requirements and conveniently apply for loans digitally with minimum documentation Offer Merchants loans of upto ₹10 lakh, with a tenure of 6-24 months, Building on the widespread adoption of Paytm’s platform and Piramal Finance’s lending products by MSME’s Enable deeper penetration in India’s hinterland through Piramal Finance’s wide reach
One97 Communications Limited, which owns the brand Paytm, India’s leading digital payments and financial services company and the pioneer of QR and mobile payments, today announced a partnership with Piramal Capital & Housing Finance Ltd., herein referred to as Piramal Finance, to expand distribution of merchant loans to the small cities and towns of India. Piramal Capital & Housing Finance Ltd. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Piramal Enterprises Limited and an established financial services company in India.
This partnership will expand Paytm’s loan distribution business, supported by Piramal Finance’s wide network of over 300 branches across India. It will also help drive financial inclusion by bringing access to credit to small businesses and retailers.
Paytm has acquired a large number of merchants from big and small cities across the country, amassing a large base which Piramal Finance plans to leverage and bring ease of credit to small business owners through data-driven underwriting along with credit sanctions based on business income. Additionally, this partnership will be expanded soon to include personal loans, where Piramal Finance brings its deep understanding of risk and customer segment.
Paytm’s lending business has seen massive adoption, and this partnership will further bring new-to-credit merchant partners to the platform. It will allow them to seamlessly avail of loans and meet the capital requirements for their business. Merchant partners will be able to avail of loans of up to ₹10 lakh with a tenure of 6-24 months. To drive convenience, Paytm will enable a completely digital onboarding process with minimum documentation.
With 309 active branches, Piramal Finance continues to invest in its expansion plans to be present in 1000 towns and cities in the country over the near term. Piramal Finance has built a new-age, innovative, multi-product retail lending platform, and through its phygital strategy, the company aims to serve Bharat at scale. The company has leveraged AI, and Machine Learning tools to offer personalized experiences for individuals and businesses, thereby transforming the way lending works for unserved consumers.
The wide acceptance of merchant loans on the Paytm platform is reflected through the high volume of repeat loans, with over 50% of the total value of loans disbursed to merchants who had taken a loan earlier. This demonstrates the stickiness of the merchant on the Paytm platform. Moreover, the company has also seen an increase in the average ticket size of the loans.
Bhavesh Gupta, CEO of Lending and Head of payments at Paytm, said, “We continue to see rapid growth across all our lending products, where we empower MSMEs from smaller cities and towns with access to digital credit. The success and scale of our lending products give us the confidence to expand and further boost our credit offerings. Our partnership with Piramal Finance is another step in that direction, where we will together bring more merchants into the formal credit economy.”
