Decoding PayU’s $300 mn+ lending play

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With its acquisition of digital loan startup PaySense, the payments firm is getting serious about selling loans

Pranav S.

Delhi

21 January 2020

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<p> PayU is on a roll.

The digital payments company, owned by South African media and tech conglomerate Naspers, has spent in the vicinity of $500 million on fintech acquisitions and investments globally in just the past two years. To cap it all off, two weeks ago, PayU announced it was buying PaySense, a tiny Mumbai-based startup which runs an app offering quick personal loans in one of India’s biggest ever fintech deals.

PaySense—which recorded revenue of about Rs 18 crore ($2.5 million) in the year ended 31 March 2019—was valued at $185 million. PayU, which already held about 19% in the company, raised its stake to around 80%, Entrackr reported; PayU didn’t specify exactly how much it paid, but it would be north of $100 million at least.

The only bigger transactions have been e-commerce firm Snapdeal’s acquisition of digital wallet FreeCharge for over $400 million in 2015 (though it was

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