Ahead of its quarterly financial results for the January-March quarter, Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led Paytm has said it disbursed loans worth ₹1,657 crore in April 2022, up from loans worth ₹195 crore disbursed in April 2021. The growth in the value of loan disbursals comes amid the RBI's directive on March 12, 2022, barring Paytm Payments Bank from onboarding new customers till it completes an audit of its business.

"Our lending business (in partnership with top lenders) continues to grow at a rapid pace. The value of loans disbursed grew 749% y-o-y to ₹1,657 crore ($221 million), an annualised run-rate of approximately ₹20,000 crore," says the company in a release today.

Paytm's lending business comprises disbursing loans on behalf of other lenders, for which it earns a certain fee. Paytm says it recorded an uptick in the average ticket size due to the scale-up of the personal loan business.

In the offline payments business, Paytm had 32 lakh devices deployed in stores as of April 2022. This was 9 lakh as of April 2021, the company said. The user engagement on Paytm's super app recorded monthly transacting users at 7.3 crore in April 2022, up 44% YoY, from 5.1 crore in April 2021.

The total merchant GMV (gross merchandise value) processed through Paytm also rose 102% YoY to ₹0.95 lakh crore as of April 2022. This was ₹0.47 lakh crore during the same month last year.

During the quarter ending March 31, 2022, loans worth ₹3,553 crore were distributed, recording 417% growth as compared to the quarter ending March 2021 (₹687 crore). The user engagement was 7.1 crore in the March 2022 quarter vs 5 crore in the quarter ending March 2021, showing 41% growth.

Meanwhile, Paytm's company Paytm lnsuretech Private Ltd had entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire 100% of Raheja QBE General Insurance Company Ltd. The company said the deal has been terminated.

"As the share sale and purchase transaction has not been consummated within the time period envisaged by the parties under the said agreement, the agreement has automatically terminated," the company added.

The company, however, says it remains bullish on its roadmap for general insurance and intends to seek requisite approvals for a new general insurance license, wherein it holds a 74% majority shareholding upfront.

Paytm’s board will consider the fourth-quarter financial results on May 20, 2022. The fintech services major had recorded a loss of ₹780 crore, and its revenue rose 34% during the December quarter, compared to ₹474 crore loss during the previous quarter.

One 97 Communications-owned Paytm's share has lost one-fourth of its value on the share market, with the stock trading at ₹560.9 on the NSE. The stock has dwindled 15.28% in the past one month and 64.10% in the past six months. The stock dropped 58.18% in the year-to-date period.

paytm lending business

Paytm's loan disbursals grow to ₹1,657 cr in April on uptick in ticket size