Paytm Payments Bank records 55% jump in PAT, capitalises on India’s growing digital banking space

The growth of digital banking has been such in India that with over 5.8 crore digital debit cards issued by Paytm Payments Bank, the company has a debit cardholder in every district of India.

Riding the wave of the growing usage of digital banking in India, the country’s largest payments bank, Paytm Payments Bank Limited, has announced a 55% jump in profit after tax as it registered profit for the second consecutive year. Paytm Payments Bank said that profit after tax for financial year 2019-20 stood at Rs 29.8 crore, up from Rs 19.2 crore in the last fiscal. “This has been largely led by its higher customer acquisition in smaller cities & towns to drive financial inclusion in the country,” the company said.

With the growing number of users of digital banking facilities, Paytm Payments Bank facilitated more than 485 crore transactions worth Rs. 4.6 lakh crores in the previous fiscal. Of the Rs 4.6 lakh crore transactions, domestic money transfers have accounted for close to Rs. 29,000 crores. “The CASA base has increased to over 58 million, helping the bank to double its deposits in savings accounts to over Rs. 1000 crores, compared to last year,” Paytm Payments Bank said. The annual revenue has also shown a sharp increase in the fiscal year and has crossed Rs. 2100 crores. 

“In the financial year 2020 we have registered growth across all parameters, including the number of account holders, saving account deposits, fixed deposits, and transactions,” Satish Kumar Gupta, MD & CEO of Paytm Payments Bank Ltd. said. The growth of digital banking has been such in India that with over 5.8 crore digital debit cards issued by Paytm Payments Bank, the company has a debit cardholder in every district of India and registers over 45 lakh debit card transactions per month. In an effort to mix digital banking with the government’s direct benefit transfer schemes, Paytm Payments Bank has also stepped in to allow customers to avail benefits of over 400 government subsidies by linking their Paytm Payments Bank saving account to receive the benefits. 

Whilst announcing their stellar financial performance for the previous fiscal year, Paytm Payments Bank also announced the upcoming launch of its cheque book facility for all account holders. Payments bank, as per the guidelines issued by the Reserve Bank of India can accept deposits worth Rs 1 lakh per customer but can not issue loans and credit cards as normal banks do.