Indian fintech giant PayTM may turn profitable this year as the pandemic fuels a surge in the use of its payment platforms, the company's chief executive and founder told the Reuters Next conference.
Speaking at a panel on how technology can help tackle financial exclusion, Vijay Shekhar Sharma said the crisis had forced more merchants to use PayTM's platforms as businesses were forced to accept digital payments.
"We could very well break even this year, we will start making money," he said.
"I was surprised by the opportunity of monetisation in 2020 during the pandemic, not just by our wealth accounts but also by lending."
PayTM, which began as a service for people to top up their mobile phones, offers a digital payment platform for merchants, money transfers and bill payments across India. Its lending businesses include credit cards, personal loans and merchant cash loans in partnership with other lenders.
Pressed on whether the company, which is backed by Chinese fintech giant Ant Financial and Japan's SoftBank, would soon look to list, Sharma said it would look at that when profitable but had no plans in the "short term".
PayTM was valued at about $16 billion during a private fundraising round in 2019.
