PayU India has officially closed its LazyCard, a prepaid payment instrument supported by a credit line, as confirmed by its parent company Prosus in its half-yearly financial report. This strategic move led to a reduction in losses and an overall boost in profitability within the fintech and payments portfolio of the Prosus group.
According to Prosus, the decision to shut down LazyCard resulted in a positive impact on the consolidated financials. The payments and fintech segment witnessed a 21% growth in consolidated revenue to $497 million, driven by contributions from India payments, India credit, and Turkey. The consolidated trading loss narrowed by $62 million in local currency, excluding mergers and acquisitions, reaching $22 million. This improvement was attributed to enhanced profitability in GPO, Turkey, and savings from the closure of LazyCard operations in India.
PayU India had introduced LazyCard in 2022 after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) declared in the previous year that loading credit lines into non-bank prepaid payment instruments, such as prepaid cards and wallets, was prohibited. Amid reports of the RBI’s regulatory stance, there were considerations to transform LazyCard, offered under the LazyPay brand, into a credit card.
Prosus highlighted that despite the closure of LazyCard, PayU’s consolidated revenue experienced a robust 21% year-on-year growth to $497 million in the first half of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), compared to $412 million in H1 FY23. The lending verticals, LazyPay, and Paysense collectively saw a 16% YoY increase in revenue to $57 million during the same period.
PayU India specifically recorded a total revenue of $211 million in H1 FY24, reflecting a 15% increase over the corresponding period last year. India currently constitutes 48% of PayU’s core payments revenues.
Prosus emphasized that the payments and fintech segment operates profitable core Payment Service Provider (PSP) businesses, along with a rapidly expanding credit business in India. Despite pending regulatory approvals in India impacting peer PSPs, the segment delivered strong 1H24 results in both core PSP and credit businesses. The regulatory approvals concern onboarding new online merchants while continuing to provide payment services to existing online merchants, according to Prosus.
