Paytm’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma Forecasts: India to Reach 500 Million Payment Consumers and 100 Million Merchants Soon
- ByStartupStory | August 22, 2023
In a recent Annual Report, Paytm’s founder and CEO, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, outlined the company’s vision for India’s digital economy. Sharma emphasized the country’s potential to become a net exporter of payment technology, software, and hardware, especially as India is projected to reach 500 million payment consumers and 100 million merchants. He believes that achieving financial inclusion for every individual will be the true measure of economic growth success.
“We have set our mission to enable 500 million Indians to get benefits of mainstream economic growth. This begins by enabling them with mobile payments and helping extend various other financial services like loan, insurance etc. to them,” Sharma stated in the letter.
Paytm has experienced notable success in its lending platform business, resulting in a reduction of losses before the previously committed timeline of EBITDA positivity before ESOP. The company’s lending platform has facilitated around Rs 15,000 crore worth of loans.
Furthermore, Paytm’s merchant subscription base has grown to eight million, largely attributed to innovative payment-facilitating devices like PoS devices and soundboxes. The latter, which announces successful UPI payments based on QR codes, has proven to be a successful addition to the market.
Sharma also revealed Paytm’s strategic investment in developing an Artificial General Intelligence software stack. The AI system aims to enhance risk assessment and fraud prevention for financial institutions while safeguarding against emerging risks resulting from advancements in AI.
“With a disciplined and result-oriented approach in all our selected investment areas, we are sure we will be able to capitalize and build strong differentiators in the market and in turn a business that scales efficiently without linearly adding to costs,” Sharma emphasized.
During the last financial year, Paytm reported revenues close to $1 billion (approximately Rs 8,000 crore), indicating the company’s significant growth and impact in India’s digital economy.
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