UPI extras miss mark; Amazon streamlines India ops
Happy Friday! Most new features on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) have struggled to gain meaningful traction over the years. This and more in today's ETtech Morning Dispatch.
Also in the letter: ■ PB Fintech profit triples■ GIC seeks CCI nod for Groww stake
■ Uptick in SaaS M&A deals
UPI Lite and wallet-based pay off to a slow start as UPI payments climb
In recent years, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has rolled out several new features—UPI Lite, wallet-based payments, recurring payments via UPI, UPI through RuPay credit cards, and UPI Circle. Yet, most have seen limited adoption.
Driving the news: According to multiple sources, features like UPI Lite, wallet-based UPI payments, and RuPay card usage on UPI are seeing just 80-150 million monthly transactions. While not insignificant, these numbers appear modest given UPI's massive scale.
Going deeper: Industry insiders cite several challenges hindering adoption: Fintechs such as PhonePe, Google Pay, and Paytm have done little to promote these features.
The lack of financial incentives means big players primarily use UPI to drive traffic to their revenue-generating products.
Banks are reluctant to invest in building and maintaining tools that show weak traction.
Fresh challenges: Despite UPI's runaway success, NPCI must now prove its innovation muscle. Features like UPI Lite and wallet-based payments were designed to ease pressure on core banking systems. Their failure to scale undermines that goal and the NPCI's ambition to evolve the platform.
Also Read: Behind UPI-first digital payment apps' latest plan to revamp their mobile wallet operations
Amazon India's board clears logistics arm & marketplace biz merger
Amazon Transportation Services (ATS), the logistics arm of American ecommerce giant in India, is merging with Amazon Seller Services, the primary marketplace unit in the country.
Driving the news: The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has granted interim approval for the merger. In its filings with the NCLT, Amazon stated that the move aims to: Reduce legal and regulatory compliance requirements
Enable more efficient management of infrastructure and resources across both companies.
For context: ATS was launched in 2013 as an in-house logistics service for Amazon's ecommerce marketplace in India. The unit still generates more than 95% of its revenue from Amazon. In 2023, ATS began offering its services to third-party clients as well.
Rival watch: Flipkart operates its own logistics arm, Ekart Logistics.
Meesho, backed by SoftBank, launched Valmo last year to serve its sellers.
Financial snapshot: ATS reported a 7.6% YoY rise in operating revenue for FY24 to Rs 4,889 crore.
Amazon Seller Services reported Rs 25,406 crore in operating revenue during FY24, up 14%.
Also Read: CAIT calls for ban on sale of Pakistani flags, merchandise on Amazon, Flipkart
Flipkart helps deliver strong Walmart ad business
Ecommerce giant Flipkart has powered a strong quarter for its US-based parent Walmart, contributing to a 20% rise in international advertising revenue for the three months ending April 30.
Walmart Q1 results: Walmart International reported net sales of $32.1 billion for the February-April quarter, marking a 7.8% year-on-year increase.
Growth in constant currency terms was primarily driven by Flipkart, alongside strong performances from Walmart's businesses in China and Walmex (Mexico and Central America).
In numbers: Flipkart Internet, the marketplace arm of Flipkart, earned nearly Rs 5,000 crore from advertising in the financial year ending March 2024, outpacing the Rs 3,734 crore generated from marketplace fees. Read More Elon Musk debuts 'Grok' AI bot to rival ChatGPT, others
Also Read: Flipkart may limit its quick commerce expansion to top cities to reduce burn
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PB Fintech profit triples in Q4, revenue up 38%
Alok Bansal and Yashish Dahiya, founders, PB Fintech group
PB Fintech posted an 181% year-on-year (YoY) jump in net profit to Rs 171 crore for the quarter that ended March 2025, driven by strong performance across its business verticals.
Q4 highlights: Net profit: Rs 171 crore, up 181% YoY
Rs 171 crore, up 181% YoY Revenue: Rs 1,508 crore, up 38% YoY
Rs 1,508 crore, up 38% YoY Expenses: Rs 1,437 crore, up 29% YoY (from Rs 1,145 crore in Q4 FY24)
Tell me more: The robust profit growth was fuelled mainly by steady momentum in the insurance business, alongside strong disbursals in secured loans such as home loans and loans against property, which boosted the lending vertical. The slower pace of expense growth relative to revenue also contributed to the improved bottom line.
Insurance business (Policybazaar): Q4 premium collection: Rs 7,030 crore (vs Rs 2,176 crore in Q4 FY24)
FY25 total premium processed: Rs 23,486 crore
Also Read: PB Healthcare secures $218 million from General Catalyst, PB Fintech, others
GIC seeks CCI nod for Groww stake ahead of IPO
Lalit Keshre, CEO, Groww
Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC has sought the Competition Commission of India's (CCI) nod to acquire a 2.14% stake in wealthtech startup Groww through its affiliate Viggo Investment. Read More British AI pioneer joins Microsoft
Why it matters: The move is part of Groww's $200 million pre-IPO funding at a 6.5 billion valuation, as reported by ET on March 26. As we reported earlier, this will nearly double its 2021 private market valuation.
The big picture: Groww, now India's largest stockbroker by active clients, recently shifted its domicile to India and is gearing up to file its IPO papers soon.
Also Read: Groww gets CCI approval for bonus shares, founders relinquish extra voting rights
Other Top Stories By Our Reporters
Trump wants Apple to stop moving iPhone production to India: President Donald Trump asked Tim Cook to halt production in India and move back to the US, as the iPhone maker plans to diversify its manufacturing beyond China.
SaaS sees an uptick in mergers, buyouts as AI flips the script: As smaller software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies struggle to raise funds and scale operations amid the AI boom, M&A deals increased 19% sequentially and 31% annually in the March quarter.
New-age ice cream brand Hocco raises $10 million: The latest funding round was co-led by the Chona family office and Sauce VC, and funds were earmarked for expansion, capex, innovation, marketing, and more.
Global Picks We Are Reading
■ US tech visa applications are being put through the ringer (Wired)
■ AI therapy is a surveillance machine in a police state (The Verge)
■ Apple finally launches next-gen 'CarPlay Ultra' software, starting with Aston Martin (TechCrunch)
READ SOURCE businessmayor May 16, 2025
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