Paytm posts 37% rise in merchant payment volumes in first quarter, shares rise 3%

"Our focus over the past few quarters continues to be on payment volumes that generate profitability for us, either through net payments margin or from direct upsell potential," said Paytm.

The month-on-month loan distribution trend in June reflects the higher disbursal in May which included pent-up demand for merchant loans from April due to one of partners not disbursing due to upgrading of systems. For June alone, loan disbursements stood at Rs 5,227 crore.

"Our leadership in payment monetization continues, as subscription for payment devices like Soundbox and POS machines continue to see increased acceptance by merchants. Number of merchants paying subscription for payment devices has reached 79 lakh as of June 2023, an increase of 4 lakh devices in the month and 11 lakh devices in the quarter," it added.

"With our subscription as a service model, the strong adoption of devices drives subscription revenues and higher payment volumes, while increasing the funnel for our merchant loan distribution," it said.

Paytm further said it currently has 7 active lending partners and that it aims to onboard 3-4 partners in FY24. On June 30, it announced loan distribution partnership with Shriram Finance.

After being underperforming since its listing in November 2021, Paytm shares have been on a bull run in 2023. In a little over seven months, the share price has gained 94 percent and it has risen 60 percent on a year-to-date basis.

In March 2023, Paytm was granted an extension by the RBI for its payment aggregator license application. As a result, Paytm can continue offering all payment services to its existing customers. However, during this period, it cannot onboard new online merchants. Furthermore, the company is currently awaiting regulatory approvals to onboard new customers for Paytm Payments Bank, Motilal Oswal said in a recent report.