Finance technology companies in India have been on a roll lately, thanks to the demonetization efforts by the government. Riding on the wave, PayU who is also one of the leading payment service providers, is planning to launch two new services — consumer credit and digital banking.
The introduction on the new services is a part of the company’s plan to become an all-round payments hub. It is aiming to diversify its business and in the process, has accelerated merchant acquisition.
Since the acquisition, the company has been working on offering credit facility to customers. Finally, it seems that the company is all set to launch its service. Dubbed as LazyPay, it will enable users to buy things and allow them to pay later. Initially, it will be available for low-price purchases such as grocery and movie tickets.
Commenting on the upcoming launch of the aame, Amrish Rau, CEO of PayU, said:
Purchase and payment don’t need to be together. If we’ve seen customers transact over a few months, we know the likelihood of getting paid back. The crucial part with LazyPay is the speed of transaction. It allows people to pay at their convenience, much like how telephone companies allow post-paid. The next step will be to increase the credit limit.
As of the digital payments business, the company is planning to launch it next year. With the launch of its digital payments business, it will compete directly with Paytm, Mobikwik and Freecharge.
The company is planning to offer various financial products and become a digital bank once customers start trusting the company in those aspects. Amrish Rau says that they have to combine three or four things: P2P play, digital payments hub in order to enable users to make all kind of payments from the same app and letting move money faster.
Along with offering new services, PayU is also expanding its core business of providing payment gateway services. It has recently introduced a product named Selfie, allowing individuals and small businesses to sell products and accept payments across social media platforms.
Earlier, in September this year, PayU acquired Citrus Pay for around $130 million in an all cash deal. Amrish Rau, co-founder of Citrus Pay, became CEO of PayU, replacing Nitin Gupta who worked as India Head for Nasper-backed payments company. Following this, Nitin Gupta departed from the company to start his own venture.
In the current financial year, PayU is aiming to process transactions worth around $5.5 billion. However, the company has set high targets for the following year. For the financial year 2018, it aims to cross transactions worth $10 billion.
