Paytm Payments Bank hopes RBI can take on new customers soon
Mumbai:
India’s Paytm Payments Bank, which facilitates transactions on the mobile trading platform Paytm, expects the central bank to be allowed to take on new customers again in the coming months, a top executive told Reuters.
In March, the Reserve Bank of India ordered a comprehensive audit of the company’s IT systems, citing “material” oversight issues, without elaborating, and banning it from taking on new clients.
The bank is working with the RBI to complete the IT audit and address regulator concerns.
“The process is underway and we think it will take three to five months from where we are now,” Madhur Deora, chief financial officer of the group, Paytm, told Reuters on Sunday.
The central bank did not immediately respond to an email asking for comment.
Paytm denied a Bloomberg news report in March that RBI had discovered that its servers were sharing information with China-based entities that indirectly own a stake in the company.
Paytm is backed by China’s Alibaba Group Holding and its subsidiary Ant Group.
One 97 Communications Ltd, the parent company of fintech company Paytm, reported a larger loss in the fourth quarter on Friday due to higher payment processing, marketing and personnel costs.
Deora said the company was on track to be profitable by September 2023.
“We’re seeing good growth in high-margin businesses and as a result, we’re seeing improvements in contribution margin.”
“Our indirect costs will not grow as fast as last year as we do not expect significant investments in new businesses or personnel costs this year, as we have already done last year,” he added.
Paytm made its stock market debut last November in one of the largest-ever IPOs in the country, but shares have since fallen 70 percent.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)
