PayU is a Netherlands-based payment service provider to online merchants.[1][2] The company was founded in 2002,[3] and is headquartered in Hoofddorp. It allows online businesses to accept and process payments through payment methods that can be integrated with web and mobile applications.[4][5] As of 2018, the service is available in 17 countries.[6] The firm is owned by the Naspers Group, which also owns a stake in one of its sister companies, Tencent.[7][8]

PayU
Company typePrivate
IndustryFintech, Payments Service Provider
Founded2002
FounderJose Velez, Martin Schrimpff, Arjan Bakker, Grzegorz Brochocki, Nitin Gupta, Shailaz Nag
Number of locations
17
Key people
Anirban Mukherjee (CEO)
Number of employees
1500
ParentNaspers
Websitecorporate.payu.com

History

edit

PayU is the result of multiple payment gateways in various regions of the world that have been acquired and brought into the PayU group.[9][10][11] In 2014, all online payment companies that were part of Naspers started operating under the PayU brand.

In 2022, it fired about 150 employees, approximately 6% of its workforce.[12]

In 2023, PayU sold its global payments business, other than those in its core markets of India, Southeast Asia and Turkey, to Rapyd for $610 million.[13]

Investment and acquisitions

edit
  • Acquired Zooz, an Israeli startup that provides an API to merchants.[14]
  • Acquired Indian payments services provider, Citrus Pay in September 2016 for $130M.[15][16]
  • Investment of €110M in German fintech company Kreditech, which provides machine-learning-based underwriting.[17][18]
  • PayU led a $115M funding round of Seattle-based Remitly, a remittance company.[19][20]
  • Series A investment of $3.7M in ZestMoney, a provider of consumer finance for online purchases.[21]
  • Invested $5.3M in Indian fintech startup PaySense in May 2017[22]
  • Investment of R$60M in online credit platform Creditas (ex-BankFacil)[23][24]
  • 2011, acquired Romanian online payments company GECAD ePayments[25][26]
  • 2019, acquired US-based digital financial security firm Wibmo for $70M[27]
  • 2019, acquired Turkish digital payments company Iyzico for $165M[28]
  • 2020, acquired Indian fintech startup PaySense for $185M[29]

Operations

edit

Europe

edit

In November 2006, PayU SA was established and the Polish firm Platnosci.pl was merged into the group. The company also has a partnership with Iwoca to make financing for SME firms easier.[30] In 2010, the company expanded to the Czech Republic. In 2011, the company expanded to Romania. In 2012, it began its operations in Russia, Ukraine, Turkey, Slovakia and Hungary.[31]

Latin America

edit

In 2002, Pagosonline was founded in Colombia by Jose Velez, Martin Schrimpff and Santiago Spinel.[citation needed]

In 2010, PagosOnline sold a majority stake to Buscapé, which was a part of the Naspers Group.[32] In 2011, Naspers acquired the majority stake in DineroMail.[33] In 2013, Naspers acquired the rest of the shares of DineroMail.[34] In 2012, Naspers acquired Pagosonline, replacing the former two with a new payment platform that eventually was rebranded PayU Latam, which begun operations in Panama and Peru.[35] During the course of 2013 and 2014, PayU Latam and DineroMail merged.[36][37] In 2016, Bcash and PayU, were merged under the PayU brand in Brazil.[38]

Africa

edit

PayJar was founded in South Africa in 2010 as part of the Naspers group to help other Naspers companies process online payments. In 2011, PayJar was rebranded to PayU.[39] In 2015, PayU expanded its operations to Nigeria.[40][41]

India

edit

In 2011, Ibibo in conjunction with co-founders Nitin Gupta and Shailaz Nag, rolled out a payment gateway, PayU, in the Indian market to permit websites to integrate e-commerce transactions through online payments.[42][43]

Products and services

edit

PayU is a regulated financial institution. It holds licenses from central banks and local regulators. PayU's products include a PCI-DSS certified payment gateway,[44][45] an anti-fraud system and an online Visa/MasterCard acquirer.[46][47][48]

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ "PayU: On the money | Forbes India". Forbes India. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  2. ^ Sharma, Samidha. "GETS 20% - Naspers' PayU may invest in lending startup ZestMoney". The Times of India. Archived from the original on July 18, 2018. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  3. ^ "Martin Schrimpff". Endeavor. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  4. ^ ANI (2018-05-10). "UPI-based transactions on PayU up 200% between September, March". Business Standard India. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  5. ^ "PayU to provide credit for online purchases eyes NBFC licence - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  6. ^ "4 payment aggregators to use in Russia | Practical Ecommerce". Practical Ecommerce. 2018-02-18. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  7. ^ "Naspers-owned PayU India raises Rs 802 crore". The Financial Express. 2017-04-11. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  8. ^ "Hamburg-based Kreditech expanding to India". hamburg-news.hamburg. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  9. ^ Marketing Intern. "payment gateway". PayU Payment Pvt. Ltd. Retrieved 2021-08-25.
  10. ^ "Digital payments gateway PayU eyes acquisitions to enter lending segment". @businessline. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  11. ^ "Naspers' PayU leads investment in US digital money transfer platform". Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  12. ^ "PayU layoffs 6% of its workforce; 150 employees lose jobs: Report". livemint. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
  13. ^ Lunden, Ingrid (1 August 2023). "Rapyd acquires a piece of PayU from Prosus for $610M to scale its fintech-as-a-service platform". TechCrunch. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  14. ^ "PayU acquires Zooz to take on international payment services". Techcrunch. 2016-09-14. Retrieved 2018-07-24.
  15. ^ "Naspers' PayU buys Citrus Pay for $130M in cash to expand in India". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  16. ^ "PayU to acquire Citrus Pay for $130 mn; Sequoia gets 4x returns". VCCircle. 2016-09-14. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  17. ^ "Kreditech raises €110M from Naspers' PayU in strategic financing partnership". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  18. ^ "PayU Infuses $119 Mn In German Fintech Startup Kredtitech; Aims To Increase Credit Access In Emerging Markets - Inc42 Media". Inc42 Media. 2017-05-10. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  19. ^ "Remitly is raising up to $115M led by Naspers' PayU to double down on remittances". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  20. ^ Geron, Tomio (31 October 2017). "Remitly Tacks On $115 Million for International Remittances". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  21. ^ "PayU leads $6.5 mn round of funding in ZestMoney". Techcircle. 2017-02-15. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  22. ^ "Paysense raises $ 5.3 mn from Jungle, Naspers". Business Standard India. 2017-05-18. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  23. ^ "BankFacil receives Series A investment of USD $3 million". Accion. 2015-08-04. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  24. ^ "IFC Leads R$60m Series B in Creditas (formerly BankFacil) (em português)". LAVCA | Latin American Private Equity & Venture Capital Association. 2017-02-20. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  25. ^ "Entrepreneur Radu Georgescu makes new exit, selling Axigen to a group of Romanian entrepreneurs - Business Review". Business Review. 2014-03-11. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  26. ^ "Radu Georgescu (Founding Partner, GECAD Group)". startupgrind.com. Retrieved 2018-07-18.
  27. ^ "PayU acquires digital financial security firm Wibmo for $70 million - Economic Times". 2019-04-12.
  28. ^ "Global fintech firm PayU buys Turkey's Iyzico for $165 million". DailySabah. 11 June 2019. Retrieved 2019-06-15.
  29. ^ "PayU acquires controlling stake in Indian credit business PaySense, to merge it with LazyPay". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-09-14.
  30. ^ "PayU and iwoca launch SME partnership in Poland - AltFi News". AltFi. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
  31. ^ "PayU expands to Russia, Ukraine and Turkey - Business Review". Business Review. 2012-05-22. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
  32. ^ Reporter. "Naspers buys Brazilian e-commerce company". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
  33. ^ "El sitio de pagos DineroMail pasa a manos sudafricanas" (in Spanish). Retrieved 2018-07-19.
  34. ^ "BuscaPé Inc acquires controlling stake in Latin America online payments platform DineroMail". LAVCA | Latin American Private Equity & Venture Capital Association. 2011-03-01. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
  35. ^ "Naspers culmina compra de DineroMail y lanza PayU Latam". iProfesional. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
  36. ^ "La llegada de PayU al mercado latinoamericano de los pagos online | Ebanking News". www.ebankingnews.com (in European Spanish). Retrieved 2018-07-19.
  37. ^ "Pagosonline se convierte en PayU Latam". Blog Comercio Electronico (in European Spanish). 2013-08-21. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
  38. ^ "Naspers funde empresas de pagamentos online PayU e Bcash - TeleSíntese". telesintese.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). 27 April 2016. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
  39. ^ M, Swathi P (6 May 2015). "PayU India Rebrands PayU Enterprises And PayUmoney As Independent Entities". nextbigwhat.com. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
  40. ^ "PayU to expand Nigerian online payment market | IT News Africa – Africa's Technology News Leader". www.itnewsafrica.com. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
  41. ^ "PayU To Boost Nigerian Online Payments N200B | PYMNTS.com". www.pymnts.com. 6 June 2017. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
  42. ^ Sahay, Priyanka (2016-02-24). "Ibibo to raise $250 million from Naspers". Live Mint. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
  43. ^ "Naspers merges PayU India with global payments business". Techcircle. 2014-02-13. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
  44. ^ "Refer to these companies for secure payments". The Siasat Daily. 2018-07-06. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
  45. ^ "Refer how secure are your payments with PayU". PayU Blog. 2021-12-22. Retrieved 2021-12-22.
  46. ^ "Where is PayU Headed? Follow the Money". Bank Innovation. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
  47. ^ ANI (2018-02-05). "PayU India launches payment collection feature". Business Standard India. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
  48. ^ Finextra (2017-04-25). "Poland's PayU launches Visa Checkout". Finextra Research. Retrieved 2018-07-19.
edit