Navi, the fintech company led by Sachin Bansal, has climbed to become India’s fourth-largest UPI player in October, overtaking CRED. According to data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), Navi recorded a significant increase in customer-initiated transactions, growing to 157.51 million in October from 120.41 million in September. The total value of its UPI transactions during October was reported at ₹8,841.90 crore.
In comparison, CRED, led by Kunal Shah, saw 152.28 million customer-initiated transactions in the same period. Dominating the UPI market, Walmart-owned PhonePe retained its lead with a staggering 7.9 billion transactions, while Google Pay secured the second spot with 6.2 billion transactions. Navi’s rise comes after it surpassed Amazon Pay UPI in August with 88.71 million customer-initiated transactions.
Despite its growth in the UPI space, Navi has faced regulatory challenges. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) recently restricted Navi, along with three other NBFCs, from approving fresh loans due to “material supervisory concerns.” The RBI cited issues such as high interest rates, inadequate disclosure of fees, and outsourcing of financial services. This regulatory scrutiny led Navi to cancel its proposed ₹100 crore bond sale, originally scheduled to open for bidding on October 21.
In 2012, Bansal and Ankit Agarwal co-founded Navi, a digital lending company that provides home, auto, and personal loans. It operates under an NBFC license and was converted into a public company in March 2022. Despite its recent success in the UPI sector, Navi reported a decline in financial performance for the fiscal year 2023-24 (FY24). Its operating revenue dropped to ₹1,906.2 crore from ₹2,040.6 crore in the previous fiscal year. Additionally, its consolidated profit after tax (PAT) fell by 56% year-on-year to ₹115.6 crore in FY24.
The decline in FY24 numbers is partly attributed to Navi’s divestment of its stake in Chaitanya India Fin Credit Private Limited, a former subsidiary that had contributed to its FY23 income.
