LKP Finance exits NBFC business, bets on Gyftr-led payments platform
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LKP Finance Ltd., a listed financial services company, is reshaping its identity and business model as it acquires a strategic stake in digital gifting and rewards platform Gyftr (Vouchagram Private Limited), marking a decisive pivot away from traditional lending towards a transaction-led fintech ecosystem.
The move is part of a broader restructuring that will see LKP Finance surrender its NBFC licence and reposition itself as a platform-driven payments and rewards company. The company has already applied to the Reserve Bank of India to exit the NBFC business, having stopped financing activities several months ago.
“This is not a shift from financing to gifting. We had already stopped financing at LKP Finance and applied to the regulator to surrender the NBFC licence,” said Kapil Garg, promoter and managing director, LKP Finance. “This integration is about building a scalable payments and rewards business in India.”
Under the transaction structure, LKP Finance holds a 22% stake in Mufin Pay, while Mufin Pay owns 100% of Gyftr. Following the investment, Mufin Pay and Gyftr will consolidate, creating a unified payments and digital rewards platform. A licensing agreement for renaming the listed entity to Gyftr is currently in process, aligning the public-facing brand with the core operating business.
“Gyftr has stronger recognition and acceptance in the market. LKP Finance was essentially a listed shell once financing stopped. The idea is to bring the entire Gyftr business into the listed entity and rename it Gyftr Limited,” Garg said, adding that the shareholding of the listed company will continue to remain with the existing promoter group.
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The strategic backing also comes with strong balance sheet comfort. LKP Finance currently sits on a bank balance of around ₹350 crore and carries zero debt. Garg said no immediate fundraise is planned. “This is a pure cash business. You pay first and then consume. The working capital requirement is minimal,” he said.
On the profitability front, the combined entity already has meaningful scale. Gyftr generates an annual profit of over ₹40–50 crore, while LKP Finance contributes another ₹20–30 crore. “On a consolidated basis, the PAT today is close to ₹90–100 crore, without any leverage,” Garg said.
Why gifting is the future
Founded over 13 years ago, Gyftr operates at the intersection of payments, loyalty, and branded currencies. CEO Arvind Prabhakar said the company was built on the insight that physical rewards and traditional loyalty programmes often created friction rather than delight.
“Banks don’t make chocolates or phones, yet they end up being blamed if a reward arrives damaged or outdated,” Prabhakar said. “We realised very early that gift cards are currency. Once you digitise that currency, it becomes seamless, scalable, and far more efficient.”
Gyftr today works with over 300 brands and more than 500 enterprise clients, spanning banks, e-commerce firms, oil marketing companies, and large corporates. The platform is physically networked across five lakh points of acceptance, which expands to over 25 lakh when digital acceptance is included. Prabhakar said the company expects to cross ₹4,200 crore in transaction value this year.
The acquisition also solves a key regulatory bottleneck for Gyftr through access to a Prepaid Payment Instrument (PPI) licence. “Without a PPI licence, you can’t hold customer funds in escrow. With it, the money stays protected even if a brand shuts down,” Prabhakar explained. “That trust layer is critical as we scale.”
The timing of the integration coincides with strong tailwinds for the digital gifting and rewards industry. The market, currently estimated at $35–40 billion, is expected to cross $65 billion by 2030, driven by enterprise-led incentives and changing consumer behaviour. Over 150 million e-gift cards were issued in the last year alone.
Looking ahead, Gyftr is betting big on social commerce as its next growth lever. “Globally, social commerce contributes 30–40% of gifting volumes. In India, this hasn’t even started,” Prabhakar said. “The day it goes live, it could become the number one channel.”
The company expects social gifting integrations across platforms such as WhatsApp and Meta to roll out over the next three to six months. “India is incentive-driven. The only thing missing earlier was ease. That gap is now closing very fast,” he added.