FinTech firm aims to breach 100 mn transactions this year

The Hyderabad-based digital payments firm aspires to deploy around 1.5 lakh devices this year while breaching the 100 million transactions mark in the same period. The company is also eyeing Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns across India as part of its expansion.

India recorded a massive $1.77 billion investments in FinTech between 2014 and 2015. According to experts, the global FinTech sector is expected to be valued at $45 billion by 2020. India could be a giant player, with its own financial technology sector contributing close to $2.4 bn by the same time. 

Priti Shah, the CEO of the firm, says, “We have a Pan-India presence with offices in six strategic locations, including Chennai and a huge partner network across the country. Our mission is to address the majority or the ‘Bharat’ segment of India that is yet to be tapped for digital transformation. We have already deployed more than 60,000 devices and process more than 70 million transactions on an annual basis. We intend to tap small cities and towns in India through our distributor and channel partners located in Tier 2 & 3 locations.” 

Talking about the evolution of the FinTech space in India, Priti says, “From being a mere buzzword among the tech-savvy, to a hugely organised sector with unprecedented growth, FinTech has come a long way. It has transformed the way companies are offering financial solutions today vis-a-vis traditional predecessors. With the help of technology intelligence, intricate algorithms, machine learning and big data, it has dramatically changed the way business is conducted here.” 

She adds, “After the November 8, 2016, demonetisation, banks and financial institutions across the country have been scampering for POS devices to enable digital/cashless transactions. The demonetization decision came as a blessing in disguise for Paynear, as the demand for POS devices suddenly shot up.” The company was recently awarded for the Best Use of Mobile Technology in Financial Services in Asia at the 8th CMO Asia Excellence Awards held in Singapore. This is difficult to disclose at this juncture as we are working on some important official deals. 

On the company’s plan to diversify, Priti says, “As of now our focus is purely on the B2B segment and strengthening the merchant platform, so that merchants can reap most benefits from our platform. We don’t intend to diversify into B2C at the moment.”