Paytm Raises $1.4 Billion From Softbank

NEW DELHI: Paytm said it has raised $1.4 billion from Japan's SoftBank Group in a deal that will help the digital payments startup expand its user base and expand its soon-to-be launched payments bank operations.

SoftBank will also get a board seat in Paytm after the investment, which was made into Paytm parent One97 Communications, according to a statement from the Indian digital payments provider.

This investment will help Paytm grow its leadership in the country’s payment ecosystem, expand its user base and build a suite of financial services products for its users.

Paytm plans to invest 10,000 crore (approximately $1.6 billion) over the next three to five years towards its commitment to enabling half a billion Indians to join the mainstream economy. SoftBank will also get a board seat in Paytm after the investment. China's Alibaba, which counts SoftBank as its biggest investor, already holds a stake in Paytm.

As a part of this vision, the company will soon launch the Paytm Payments Bank, a mobile-first product that will reach every corner of the nation, and focus on the millions of unserved and under-served Indians.

“We are at an inflection point in our journey with Paytm. This investment by Softbank and support of the incredible entrepreneur Masayoshi Son is a great endorsement of our team's execution and vision.We believe we have a great opportunity to bring financial inclusion to half a billion Indians,” Paytm Founder and chief executive system (CEO) Vijay Shekhar Sharma said.

Paytm’s zero cost QR Code-based payment solution has been adopted by millions of merchants and has become synonymous to digital payments in India.

In addition, Paytm is India’s largest bill payment and recharge platform. There has also been a significant uptake in its movie ticketing, and travel booking (rail, bus and flight tickets) businesses. Paytm has recently collaborated with MMTC-PAMP to launch digital gold on its platform. The company continues to innovate in the offline payments space to enable digital transactions for consumers across multiple facets of everyday life.

“In line with the Indian government's vision to promote digital inclusion, we are committed to transforming the lives of hundreds of millions of Indian consumers and merchants by providing them digital access to a broad array of financial services, including mobile payments. We are excited to partner with Paytm in this journey and will provide them with all our support,” said Masayoshi Son, Chairman & CEO, SoftBank Group Corp.

Paytm is an Indian payments company based out of Delhi NCR, India. Acronym for ‘Pay Through Mobile’, it was launched in August 2010 as an online recharges and bill payments platform and soon expanded into ubiquitous online and offline use-cases.

In January 2014, it launched the Paytm Wallet, which has emerged as India’s biggest digital wallet with over 220 million users and is accepted as the preferred mode of payment by over 5 million offline merchants across India.

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