Quick Take
- PayU 25% growth across payments and credit is the target over 18 months, CEO Anirban Mukherjee says.
- Both businesses are now profitable at an Ebitda level, a first for the Prosus-owned fintech in FY26.
- PayU posted $781 Mn (Rs 7,463 Cr) revenue in FY26, up 13%, setting the base for a public listing.
In This Article
PayU 25% growth across its payments and credit businesses is the target for the next 18 months, CEO Anirban Mukherjee said, with both arms now profitable at an Ebitda level for the first time.
The Prosus-owned fintech reported revenue of $781 Mn (Rs 7,463 Cr) in FY26, up 13% from a year earlier, according to Prosus’ annual report. Adjusted Ebitda (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortisation) turned positive at $18 Mn, a sharp swing from a $25 Mn loss in FY25. That turnaround now anchors the fresh PayU 25% growth ambition.
StartupFeed Insight
The real signal behind PayU 25% growth is not the headline, it is that the firm hit profit by cutting negative-margin merchants, not by chasing volume. Higher-margin value-added services and SaaS now make up 33% of payments revenue, so each new rupee is worth more than it was two years ago. Watch the credit arm: it grew 19% and swung from a $28 Mn loss to a $6 Mn profit on an asset-light, bank-partnership model. StartupFeed expects PayU to file its DRHP with SEBI within the next 12 months, using this first profitable year as its listing story. By Avinash.
PayU 25% Growth: The Numbers Behind The Target
The PayU 25% growth target covers total payment value and revenue across both the payments and credit verticals over 18 months. In the second half of FY26, Mukherjee said both businesses grew well and are now profitable at an Ebitda level, per the company’s official corporate updates.
PayU processed around $90 Bn in total payment volume in FY26, up 15% year on year, while transaction counts jumped 49%. That gap shows the shift to smaller-ticket UPI use cases such as quick commerce and bill payments. This scale gives the PayU 25% growth plan a wide base to build on.
| Metric | Detail | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Total Revenue FY26 | $781 Mn (Rs 7,463 Cr) | +13% YoY (Prosus report) |
| Adjusted Ebitda | +$18 Mn (Rs 172 Cr) | First profit, from -$25 Mn in FY25 |
| Payments Revenue | $577 Mn (Rs 5,513 Cr) | 74% of total, +10% YoY |
| Credit Revenue | $204 Mn (Rs 1,949 Cr) | +19% YoY, Ebitda profit of $6 Mn |
| Total Payment Volume | ~$90 Bn (Rs 8.6 Lakh Cr) | +15% YoY, transactions up 49% |
| Growth Target | 25% over 18 months | Across payments and credit |
The standout is the credit swing: from a $28 Mn Ebitda loss in FY25 to a $6 Mn profit in FY26, per Prosus. That is the line item most likely to convince public-market investors that PayU 25% growth is achievable.
About PayU
PayU is the digital payments and lending arm of Dutch investor Prosus. Founded in 2002 and later spun out of Ibibo, the fintech serves over 450,000 merchants and processes online, offline, and cross-border payments. It runs two segments, payments and credit, and owns infrastructure firms Wibmo and Mindgate. Prosus is its parent and primary backer.
Are PayU Payments And Credit Profitable Now?
Yes, both PayU payments and credit turned adjusted Ebitda profitable in FY26, the first time the fintech has achieved this. That milestone is what makes the PayU 25% growth target credible. The payments vertical posted a $12 Mn Ebitda, four times the prior year, while credit swung to a $6 Mn profit.
“In the second half of the last fiscal we grew very well, now both payments and credit business are profitable for us at an Ebitda level,” said Anirban Mukherjee, CEO, PayU.
Profit came from a hard choice: the firm exited negative-margin merchant portfolios in H2 FY26, which slowed reported revenue but lifted quality. The credit arm also moved to an asset-light model, lending in partnership with banks instead of its own balance sheet, which cut risk.
How Does PayU 25% Growth Shape The IPO?
PayU 25% growth plus its first profitable year strengthens a long-delayed IPO case. The fintech has postponed a public listing several times, most recently in 2025, to focus on growth and profitability, according to filings tied to its RBI-regulated operations.
The company received integrated authorisation from the RBI to work as a payment aggregator across online, offline, and cross-border transactions. With profit now proven and a 25% growth runway ahead, the firm has the clean two-year record that public investors usually demand before a debut.
How Does PayU Compare With Rivals?
PayU competes with Razorpay, Cashfree, and PhonePe in India’s crowded payments sector. Its edge is scale plus a licensed credit book, a mix few rivals hold together.
| Player | Core Strength | Scale Signal |
|---|---|---|
| PayU | Payments plus licensed credit | ~25% of online payments revenue |
| Razorpay | Developer-first payment stack | Large merchant base, banking push |
| PhonePe | Consumer UPI dominance | Top UPI app by volume |
What sets the firm apart is that it now earns a profit from both payments and lending at once, while several rivals still run one of those arms at a loss.
What’s Next
The next milestone to watch is a DRHP filing with SEBI, which StartupFeed expects within 12 months if PayU 25% growth holds. A profitable credit book and rising SaaS revenue give the fintech a cleaner listing story than in past attempts. Will PayU finally hit the public markets in FY27 after years of delay?
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice. StartupFeed and its authors are not SEBI-registered investment advisors. The analysis above is based on publicly available information and should not be the sole basis for any investment decision. Please consult a SEBI-registered financial advisor before making investment decisions.
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Written by Avinash. Have a tip? Write to us at editorial@startupfeed.in.
