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Tag: Payu

  • HPZ Token Scam: Fintechs Refute Claims of Account Freezing and ED Probes

    Prominent fintech companies, such as Paytm and PayU, have refuted claims that they are one of a few payment gateways under investigation by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a cryptocurrency scam.

    In response to the account freezing reports, Paytm denied receiving any notice of this kind from the Enforcement Directorate. The company also confirmed that it has not received any new notices, communications, or enquiries from the Enforcement Directorate about the subject matter covered in the media articles. The published material is misleading and factually inaccurate, as per Paytm.

    Paytm went on to explain that the cases being covered by the media right now are related to similar previous enquiries about third-party merchants. Furthermore, it stated that Paytm would want to make it clear that these merchants are separate businesses and are not affiliated with its organisation. It attested to the company’s complete cooperation with the authorities and compliance with all of their directives, Paytm continued.

    In response to the reports, PayU also said that it strongly rejects any misrepresentations and that there are factual errors in the reports about PayU. PayU has consistently upheld the highest standards of governance and transparency in all of our activities and has remained dedicated to abiding by all applicable laws and regulations.

    ED Reportedly Frozen INR 500Cr

    A renowned media house has reported that the ED had frozen about INR 500 crore in virtual accounts of eight payment gateways, including Razorpay, PayU, Easebuzz, and Paytm, as part of its investigation into one of the biggest cryptocurrency scams in India, the HPZ Token scam, which was run by ten Chinese nationals and allegedly involved the collection of over INR 2,200 crore from investors across 20 states. WunderBaked, AgreePay, and SpeedPay were also allegedly involved.

    Company

    Amount Upheld by ED

    Easebuzz

    INR 33.4 crore

    Razorpay

    INR 18 crore

    CashFree

    INR 10.6 crore

    Paytm

    INR 2.8 crore

    PayU

    INR 130 crore

    Step by Step- How Scam was Piloted?

    Through the smartphone app HPZ Token, the accused reportedly persuaded others to invest in cryptocurrency mining, including Bitcoin. Through the incorporation of businesses in at least 20 states and the usage of more than 200 bank accounts, they ran a pan-Indian network. During the holding period, the ED used payment gateways to intercept the funds that were sent overseas.

     According to reports, the ED was investigating if the payment gateways notified the Financial Intelligence Unit and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and produced Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs).

    Periodically, all financial institutions must submit STRs, which the RBI then forwards to the Financial Intelligence Unit for additional analysis. A Nagaland PMLA court on January 22, 2025, declared Bhupesh Arora, a major accused, a fugitive economic offender. After the ED started its investigation and disregarded a non-bailable warrant, Arora fled to Dubai in 2022. 298 participants in the scheme are named in the chargesheet.

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  • PayU and AWS Introduce Their Second Fintech-Focused Accelerator Programme Cohort

    PayU, a digital payment aggregator, and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have introduced inFINity 2.0, a fintech-focused accelerator program for early-stage Indian startups, its second cohort. Startups looking to raise less than $10 million between the seed and Series A rounds will be the program’s objective. According to a statement from PayU, the program’s application period will begin on December 12 and end on February 15, 2025. Beginning in March 2025, InFINity 2.0 is a 12-week hybrid accelerator program. Virtual office hours are held after a three-day in-person boot camp in Bengaluru. PayU added that it has invested up to $5 million in any business that meets its investment requirements. Benefits of InFINity 2.0 include access to PayU’s vast merchant, bank, and consumer networks; a customised masterclass taught by professionals in the banking, fintech, and finance sectors; and possible investment opportunities from Prosus and other investors.

    Shailaz Nag and Nitin Gupta launched PayU. In 2002, Jose Velez, Martin Schrimpff, Arjan Bakker, and Grzegorz Brochocki founded the Nasper Group, which is owned by Prosus. With Nitin Gupta and Shailaz Nag as cofounders, its Indian affiliate, PayU India, was established in 2011. In addition to India, it offers financial and payment services throughout Africa, Central and Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. “This collaboration aims to empower the nation’s fintech entrepreneurs to accelerate their businesses and develop innovative solutions that address the dynamic financial needs of Indians by leveraging PayU’s operational expertise alongside Prosus’ extensive investment expertise and AWS’s leading cloud solutions,” said Anirban Mukherjee, chief executive at PayU.

    Perks that Selected Cohort will Receive

    According to a statement from the payments business, the chosen cohort will receive $100,000 in PayU Startup Program credits and discounts, as well as AWS Activate credits, to help them develop. A year has passed since the first iteration of inFINity was introduced in July 2023 in collaboration with AWS and Chiratae Ventures, including a group of 30 entrepreneurs and ending with a $5 million seed investment in the cross-border payments platform BRISKPE. According to Mukherjee, collaboration’s dedication to promoting innovation and nourishing the fintech ecosystem for early-stage Indian entrepreneurs is reflected in InFINity 2.0. “As we continue to invest in India’s fintech ecosystem, we have funded significant fintech businesses like Fisdom, IndiaGold, and Vayana,” he added.

    Fierce Competition in India’s Fintech Sector

    In terms of finances, PayU India, which is owned by Prosus, had a 12% increase in sales to $237 million in the first half of the fiscal year that ended in March 2025 (H1 FY25). Additionally, PayU asserts that during that time, it onboarded more than 4,000 merchants. According to Prosus’ H1 FY25 report, the company’s total payment value (TPV) increased by 25% during that time. The program was announced by PayU at a time when the fintech business is clearly becoming more competitive.

    The potential of their technological developments is boosting investor confidence as they extend their service offerings, explore new markets, and improve their technology. Through its Pre-Series B investment round earlier, Mumbai-based fintech firm Snapmint raised $18 million via a combination of debt and equity to improve its technology, provide new BNPL products, broaden its product offerings, and bring on new merchants. To bolster its position in the supply chain finance segment and increase its presence in important industries, Mintifi, another fintech business, raised $180 million (more than INR 1500 crore) in its Series E funding round a few days ago through a combination of main and secondary transactions.

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  • The Fintech Business PayU is Being Considered for IPO by Prosus in 2025

    According to a November 13 media report, Prosus, which recently saw a healthy return on its investment in Swiggy at the food delivery startup’s initial public offering (IPO), plans to list PayU, its payments and fintech business in India, in 2025. Ervin Tu, the group chief investment officer for Prosus, was quoted in the report as saying that the listing might occur at a valuation between $5 billion and $7 billion.

    A renowned media outlet reports that UBS just increased PayU’s valuation from $3.7 billion to $4.2 billion, citing improved trading multiples in the global payments market. Listed in Amsterdam and a member of South Africa’s Naspers, Prosus is regarded as one of the largest long-term technology investors globally.

    PayU Was Planned to Get Listed in 2023

    Since late 2023, PayU had planned to go public at a valuation of $5 billion to $7 billion. It was permitted to function as a payment aggregator in April after just escaping a 15-month regulatory prohibition on hiring new merchants. For its primary payments function, it faces competition from companies like Walmart-owned PhonePe and Tiger Global-backed Razorpay. PayU also helps small enterprises and consumers get loans.

    Rapid Expansion of India’s Digital Payment Market is Attracting Investors

    According to Prosus’ 2024 annual report, retail digital transactions in India, one of the world’s fastest-growing digital payments markets, grew 44% year over year in FY24, while payment volume rose 20%.

    India is a “pillar” of the Dutch investor’s strategy, according to Tu. “We have great optimism about the future for India and for us.”

    His remarks follow the successful market debut of Swiggy, another portfolio business, on November 13. Prosus, which still owns a 25% share in the food and grocery delivery company, claimed in a statement that it had made $2 billion from its investment. Fabricio Bloisi, the CEO of Prosus, stated last month that he anticipates more of the companies in his Indian portfolio going public within the next 12 to 18 months. Among other Indian businesses, it owns shares in Meesho, an online marketplace, and Urban Company, a home services provider.

    Sriharsha Majety, the founder and group CEO of Swiggy, stated on the sidelines of the company’s successful initial public offering (IPO) that the Prosus team has been a crucial part of Swiggy’s path to reach this milestone, helping the business at every turn since it started working with it in 2017. Their steadfast faith in Swiggy’s mission has been essential to the company’s success in the quick commerce sector as well as its food and 1P delivery platforms. Swiggy has learnt a lot and garnered useful insights from Prosus’ vast global exposure to the food industry. Swiggy looks forward to strengthening its partnership and leveraging Prosus’ global insights and industry expertise as it continues to develop, expand, and change as a publicly traded company.

    PayU Collaborates With Amazon Pay Later to Provide Immediate Digital Credit
    A strategic alliance between PayU, a provider of digital financial services, and Amazon Pay Later will increase the availability of digital credit to millions of customers in India.
    StartupTalkyNitin Konde

  • PayU Collaborates With Amazon Pay Later to Provide Immediate Digital Credit

    A strategic alliance between PayU, a provider of digital financial services, and Amazon Pay Later will increase the availability of digital credit to millions of customers in India. The integration of Amazon Pay Later, a popular buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) service, into PayU’s checkout infrastructure will allow online retailers to give customers fast and flexible credit lines.

    Among India’s 220 million people who could be eligible for credit, only about 77 million (or 35% of the total) are actually making use of various forms of credit, according to data compiled by TransUnion CIBIL.

    The goal of this collaboration between PayU and Amazon Pay Later is to help more people get the fast, genuine credit they need to shop online.

    “In our opinion, this cutting-edge approach has the potential to greatly improve merchants’ bottom lines and revolutionise the way fast credit is used by Indian consumers” stated Nikhil Mehta, PayU’s Senior Vice President of Payments Strategy and Partnerships.

    PayU to Introduce Amazon Pay Later on Its Offers Engine Platform

    Amazon Pay Later will be introduced on PayU’s Offers Engine Platform, in addition to the integration that will take place during the checkout process. This platform gives merchants the ability to make personalised offers throughout the checkout process, which further improves the consumer experience and strengthens customer loyalty.

    As a result of the incorporation of Amazon Pay Later, customers will have the opportunity to obtain quick credit, which is anticipated to result in an increase in the average ticket size for businesses.

    The Director of Amazon Finance, Vikas Bansal, also mentioned that this relationship is a step towards improving customers’ access to credit and simplifying their financial transactions. This is something that is being done for customers all around India.

    About PayU

    Prosus is an investor in PayU, a prominent digital financial services provider in India. PayU’s companies are governed by the Reserve Bank of India, and the company provides cutting-edge solutions to fulfil the digital payment needs of the Indian market. The organisations that make up PayU India are working towards a same goal: to build a digital financial services platform that can meet all of their customers’ financial demands, both those that have been met and those that have yet to be.

    Through its innovative and award-winning technology, PayU has enabled 5 lakhs+ businesses, including some of India’s most prominent organisations, eCommerce giants, and SMBs, to accept payments online. With it, companies may accept digital payments through more than 150 different online payment options, including EMIs, pay-later, QR codes, UPI, wallets, and more. It provides easy-to-implement connections across card-based EMIs, pay-later alternatives, and new-age cardless EMIs, as well as comprehensive issuer coverage, making it a favoured partner in the affordability ecosystem. PayU guarantees a smooth checkout process and offers eCommerce firms the best success rates in the market.

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