UPI extras miss mark; Amazon streamlines India ops

Published 5 days ago• 5 minute read

Happy Friday! Most new features on Unified Payments Interface (UPI) have struggled to gain meaningful traction over the years. This and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.

Also in the letter:
■ PB Fintech profit triples
■ GIC seeks CCI nod for Groww stake
■ Uptick in SaaS M&A deals

UPI Lite and wallet-based pay off to a slow start as UPI payments climb

This may be the biggest reason why you should use UPI Lite

In recent years, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has rolled out several new features—UPI Lite, wallet-based payments, recurring payments via UPI, UPI through RuPay credit cards, and UPI Circle. Yet, most have seen limited adoption.

Driving the news: According to multiple sources, features like UPI Lite, wallet-based UPI payments, and RuPay card usage on UPI are seeing just 80-150 million monthly transactions. While not insignificant, these numbers appear modest given UPI’s massive scale.

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Going deeper: Industry insiders cite several challenges hindering adoption:

Fresh challenges: Despite UPI’s runaway success, NPCI must now prove its innovation muscle. Features like UPI Lite and wallet-based payments were designed to ease pressure on core banking systems. Their failure to scale undermines that goal and the NPCI’s ambition to evolve the platform.

Also Read: Behind UPI-first digital payment apps’ latest plan to revamp their mobile wallet operations

Amazon India’s board clears logistics arm & marketplace biz merger

Amazon India records high growth in premium product

Amazon Transportation Services (ATS), the logistics arm of American ecommerce giant in India, is merging with Amazon Seller Services, the primary marketplace unit in the country.

What's happening: The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has granted interim approval for the merger. In its filings with the NCLT, Amazon stated that the move aims to:

For context: ATS was launched in 2013 as an in-house logistics service for Amazon’s ecommerce marketplace in India. The unit still generates more than 95% of its revenue from Amazon. In 2023, ATS began offering its services to third-party clients as well.

Rival watch:

Financial snapshot:

Also Read: CAIT calls for ban on sale of Pakistani flags, merchandise on Amazon, Flipkart

Flipkart helps deliver strong Walmart ad business

Flipkart

Ecommerce giant Flipkart has powered a strong quarter for its US-based parent Walmart, contributing to a 20% rise in international advertising revenue for the three months ending April 30.

Walmart Q1 results:

In numbers: Flipkart Internet, the marketplace arm of Flipkart, earned nearly Rs 5,000 crore from advertising in the financial year ending March 2024, outpacing the Rs 3,734 crore generated from marketplace fees.

Also Read: Flipkart may limit its quick commerce expansion to top cities to reduce burn

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PB Fintech profit triples in Q4, revenue up 38%

PB fintech thumb NL

Alok Bansal and Yashish Dahiya, founders, PB Fintech group

PB Fintech posted an 181% year-on-year (YoY) jump in net profit to Rs 171 crore for the quarter that ended March 2025, driven by strong performance across its business verticals.

Q4 highlights:

Tell me more: The robust profit growth was fuelled mainly by steady momentum in the insurance business, alongside strong disbursals in secured loans such as home loans and loans against property, which boosted the lending vertical. The slower pace of expense growth relative to revenue also contributed to the improved bottom line.

Insurance business (Policybazaar):

Also Read: PB Healthcare secures $218 million from General Catalyst, PB Fintech, others

GIC seeks CCI nod for Groww stake ahead of IPO

Groww gets CCI approval for bonus shares

Lalit Keshre, CEO, Groww

Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC has sought the Competition Commission of India’s (CCI) nod to acquire a 2.14% stake in wealthtech startup Groww through its affiliate Viggo Investment.

Why it matters: The move is part of Groww’s $200 million pre-IPO funding at a 6.5 billion valuation, as reported by ET on March 26. As we reported earlier, this will nearly double its 2021 private market valuation.

The big picture: Groww, now India’s largest stockbroker by active clients, recently shifted its domicile to India and is gearing up to file its IPO papers soon.

Also Read: Groww gets CCI approval for bonus shares, founders relinquish extra voting rights