Paytm Payments Bank can now issue payment mandates for IPOs as SEBI approves UPI handle

Paytm Payments Bank had processed 340 million UPI transactions in February 2021. (File image)

Traders will now be able to use Paytm’s UPI handle @Paytm to invest in capital markets through different brokerage platforms. Paytm Payments Bank on Monday announced that capital market regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) has approved its UPI handle to ‘payment mandates for IPO application’. Paytm Payments Bank had processed 340 million UPI transactions amounting to Rs 38,493 crore in February 2021 while PhonePe led the UPI tally with 975 million transactions followed by 827 million transactions recorded by Google Pay, as per NPCI data. However, Paytm had registered the lowest technical decline rate of 0.05 per cent in January 2021 among other UPI remitter banks.

“We believe that every Indian has a right to access capital markets and benefit from the burgeoning list of successful companies which are listing in the stock market. This presents a big opportunity,” Satish Gupta, MD & CEO – Paytm Payments Bank said in a statement. The company added that it has partnered with its mutual funds investment platform Paytm Money to enable payment mandates for IPO applications and aimed to bring 10 million people to equity markets by FY22. It targetted to open “over 3.5 lakh demat accounts by year-end and expects 60 per cent of users to be from small cities,” the company said. The UPI handle will soon be activated across all brokerage platforms.

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“Based on this year’s IPO data, it can be conveniently said that India represents a huge appetite for IPOs. From FY 2021, the country’s stock exchanges (both NSE and BSE combined) witnessed around 24 IPOs and raised proceeds worth Rs.48,493 crores in total from the capital markets,” it added. Paytm Payments Bank Limited had reported an increase in its profit after tax to Rs 29.8 crores in FY20 from Rs 19.2 crores in FY19 largely led by its higher customer acquisition in smaller cities. The annual revenue for the company also crossed Rs  2100 crores. The bank had facilitated over 485 crore transactions worth Rs. 4.6 lakh crores during the year while domestic money transfers accounted for around Rs 29,000 crores.