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PayU

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

PayU
TypePrivate
IndustryFintech
Founded2002; 24 years ago (2002)
FounderJose Velez, Martin Schrimpff, Arjan Bakker, Grzegorz Brochocki, Nitin Gupta, Shailaz Nag, and Narendra Nandal
HeadquartersHoofddorp, Netherlands
Number of locations
17[when?]
Key people
Anirban Mukherjee (CEO)
ServicesPayment gateway
Number of employees
1,500[when?]
ParentNaspers (via Prosus)
Websitecorporate.payu.com

PayU is a Dutch 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]

PayU is owned by major South African corporation Naspers, which also owns a stake in one of its sister companies, Tencent.[7][8]

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]
  • 2025, PayU acquires 43.5% stake in Mumbai-based Mindgate Solutions.[30]

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.[31] 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.[32]

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.[33] In 2011, Naspers acquired the majority stake in DineroMail.[34] In 2013, Naspers acquired the rest of the shares of DineroMail.[35] 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.[36] During the course of 2013 and 2014, PayU Latam and DineroMail merged.[37][38] In 2016, Bcash and PayU, were merged under the PayU brand in Brazil.[39]

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.[40] In 2015, PayU expanded its operations to Nigeria.[41][42]

India

[edit]

In 2011, Ibibo in conjunction with co-founders Nitin Gupta, Narendra Nandal and Shailaz Nag, rolled out a payment gateway, PayU, in the Indian market to permit websites to integrate e-commerce transactions through online payments. A lawsuit filed against the company in February 2026 by domestic competitor RazorPay alleging that PayU's advertisement campaign in the country imitated RazorPay's IPL 2025 advertisements resulted in a declination to grant interim injunction by the Delhi High Court. [43][44][45]

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,[46][47] an anti-fraud system and an online Visa/MasterCard acquirer.[48][49][50]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "PayU: On the money | Forbes India". Forbes India. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  2. ↑ Sharma, Samidha. "GETS 20% - Naspers' PayU may invest in lending startup ZestMoney". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  3. ↑ "Martin Schrimpff". Endeavor. Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  4. ↑ ANI (10 May 2018). "UPI-based transactions on PayU up 200% between September, March". Business Standard India. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  5. ↑ "PayU to provide credit for online purchases eyes NBFC licence". The Times of India. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  6. ↑ "4 payment aggregators to use in Russia | Practical Ecommerce". Practical Ecommerce. 18 February 2018. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  7. ↑ "Naspers-owned PayU India raises Rs 802 crore". The Financial Express. 11 April 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  8. ↑ "Hamburg-based Kreditech expanding to India". hamburg-news.hamburg. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  9. ↑ Marketing Intern. "payment gateway". PayU Payment Pvt. Ltd. Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  10. ↑ "Digital payments gateway PayU eyes acquisitions to enter lending segment". @businessline. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  11. ↑ "Naspers' PayU leads investment in US digital money transfer platform". Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  12. ↑ "PayU layoffs 6% of its workforce; 150 employees lose jobs: Report". livemint. Retrieved 27 December 2022.
  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. 14 September 2016. Retrieved 24 July 2018.
  15. ↑ "Naspers' PayU buys Citrus Pay for $130M in cash to expand in India". TechCrunch. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  16. ↑ "PayU to acquire Citrus Pay for $130 mn; Sequoia gets 4x returns". VCCircle. 14 September 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  17. ↑ "Kreditech raises €110M from Naspers' PayU in strategic financing partnership". TechCrunch. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  18. ↑ "PayU Infuses $119 Mn In German Fintech Startup Kredtitech; Aims To Increase Credit Access In Emerging Markets - Inc42 Media". Inc42 Media. 10 May 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  19. ↑ "Remitly is raising up to $115M led by Naspers' PayU to double down on remittances". TechCrunch. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  20. ↑ Geron, Tomio (31 October 2017). "Remitly Tacks On $115 Million for International Remittances". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  21. ↑ "PayU leads $6.5 mn round of funding in ZestMoney". Techcircle. 15 February 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  22. ↑ "Paysense raises $ 5.3 mn from Jungle, Naspers". Business Standard India. 18 May 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  23. ↑ "BankFacil receives Series A investment of USD $3 million". Accion. 4 August 2015. Archived from the original on 25 October 2017. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  24. ↑ "IFC Leads R$60m Series B in Creditas (formerly BankFacil) (em português)". LAVCA | Latin American Private Equity & Venture Capital Association. 20 February 2017. Archived from the original on 27 June 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  25. ↑ "Entrepreneur Radu Georgescu makes new exit, selling Axigen to a group of Romanian entrepreneurs - Business Review". Business Review. 11 March 2014. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  26. ↑ "Radu Georgescu (Founding Partner, GECAD Group)". startupgrind.com. Retrieved 18 July 2018.
  27. ↑ "PayU acquires digital financial security firm Wibmo for $70 million - Economic Times". 12 April 2019.
  28. ↑ "Global fintech firm PayU buys Turkey's Iyzico for $165 million". DailySabah. 11 June 2019. Retrieved 15 June 2019.
  29. ↑ "PayU acquires controlling stake in Indian credit business PaySense, to merge it with LazyPay". TechCrunch. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
  30. ↑ Upadhyay, Harsh. "PayU acquires 43.5% stake in Mumbai-based Mindgate Solutions". entrackr.com. Retrieved 20 March 2025.
  31. ↑ "PayU and iwoca launch SME partnership in Poland - AltFi News". AltFi. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  32. ↑ "PayU expands to Russia, Ukraine and Turkey - Business Review". Business Review. 22 May 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  33. ↑ "Naspers buys Brazilian e-commerce company". Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  34. ↑ "El sitio de pagos DineroMail pasa a manos sudafricanas" (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  35. ↑ "BuscaPé Inc acquires controlling stake in Latin America online payments platform DineroMail". LAVCA | Latin American Private Equity & Venture Capital Association. 1 March 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  36. ↑ "Naspers culmina compra de DineroMail y lanza PayU Latam". iProfesional. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  37. ↑ "La llegada de PayU al mercado latinoamericano de los pagos online | Ebanking News". www.ebankingnews.com (in European Spanish). Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  38. ↑ "Pagosonline se convierte en PayU Latam". Blog Comercio Electronico (in European Spanish). 21 August 2013. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  39. ↑ "Naspers funde empresas de pagamentos online PayU e Bcash - TeleSíntese". telesintese.com.br (in Brazilian Portuguese). 27 April 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  40. ↑ M, Swathi P (6 May 2015). "PayU India Rebrands PayU Enterprises And PayUmoney As Independent Entities". nextbigwhat.com. Archived from the original on 7 May 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  41. ↑ "PayU to expand Nigerian online payment market | IT News Africa – Africa's Technology News Leader". www.itnewsafrica.com. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  42. ↑ "PayU To Boost Nigerian Online Payments N200B | PYMNTS.com". www.pymnts.com. 6 June 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  43. ↑ Sahay, Priyanka (24 February 2016). "Ibibo to raise $250 million from Naspers". Live Mint. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  44. ↑ "Naspers merges PayU India with global payments business". Techcircle. 13 February 2014. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  45. ↑ Thyagarajan, S N (20 March 2026). "Delhi High Court declines interim relief to Razorpay in suit against PayU over ad campaign". Bar and Bench.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  46. ↑ "Refer to these companies for secure payments". The Siasat Daily. 6 July 2018. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  47. ↑ "Refer how secure are your payments with PayU". PayU Blog. 22 December 2021. Retrieved 22 December 2021.
  48. ↑ "Where is PayU Headed? Follow the Money". Bank Innovation. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  49. ↑ ANI (5 February 2018). "PayU India launches payment collection feature". Business Standard India. Retrieved 19 July 2018.
  50. ↑ Finextra (25 April 2017). "Poland's PayU launches Visa Checkout". Finextra Research. Retrieved 19 July 2018.