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PayU

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]

History

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

  • 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

Europe

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

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

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

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

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

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

External links

References

  1. PayU: On the money Forbes India, retrieved 2018-07-18^
  2. Samidha Sharma. GETS 20% - Naspers' PayU may invest in lending startup ZestMoney The Times of India, retrieved 2018-07-18^
  3. Martin Schrimpff Endeavor, retrieved 2018-07-18^
  4. ANI. UPI-based transactions on PayU up 200% between September, March Business Standard India, 2018-05-10, retrieved 2018-07-18^
  5. PayU to provide credit for online purchases eyes NBFC licence The Times of India, retrieved 2018-07-18^
  6. 4 payment aggregators to use in Russia 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. Ingrid Lunden. Rapyd acquires a piece of PayU from Prosus for $610M to scale its fintech-as-a-service platform TechCrunch, 1 August 2023, 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. Tomio Geron. Remitly Tacks On $115 Million for International Remittances The Wall Street Journal, 31 October 2017, 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, 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. Harsh Upadhyay. PayU acquires 43.5% stake in Mumbai-based Mindgate Solutions entrackr.com, retrieved 2025-03-20^
  31. PayU and iwoca launch SME partnership in Poland - AltFi News AltFi, retrieved 2018-07-19^
  32. PayU expands to Russia, Ukraine and Turkey - Business Review Business Review, 2012-05-22, retrieved 2018-07-19^
  33. Naspers buys Brazilian e-commerce company Mail & Guardian, retrieved 2018-07-19^
  34. El sitio de pagos DineroMail pasa a manos sudafricanas retrieved 2018-07-19^
  35. BuscaPé Inc acquires controlling stake in Latin America online payments platform DineroMail LAVCA, 2011-03-01, retrieved 2018-07-19^
  36. Naspers culmina compra de DineroMail y lanza PayU Latam iProfesional, retrieved 2018-07-19^
  37. La llegada de PayU al mercado latinoamericano de los pagos online www.ebankingnews.com, retrieved 2018-07-19^
  38. Pagosonline se convierte en PayU Latam Blog Comercio Electronico, 2013-08-21, retrieved 2018-07-19^
  39. Naspers funde empresas de pagamentos online PayU e Bcash - TeleSíntese telesintese.com.br, 27 April 2016, retrieved 2018-07-19^
  40. Swathi P M. PayU India Rebrands PayU Enterprises And PayUmoney As Independent Entities nextbigwhat.com, 6 May 2015, retrieved 2018-07-19^
  41. PayU to expand Nigerian online payment market www.itnewsafrica.com, retrieved 2018-07-19^
  42. PayU To Boost Nigerian Online Payments N200B www.pymnts.com, 6 June 2017, retrieved 2018-07-19^
  43. Priyanka Sahay. Ibibo to raise $250 million from Naspers Live Mint, 2016-02-24, retrieved 2018-07-19^
  44. Naspers merges PayU India with global payments business Techcircle, 2014-02-13, retrieved 2018-07-19^
  45. S N Thyagarajan. Delhi High Court declines interim relief to Razorpay in suit against PayU over ad campaign Bar and Bench, 20 March 2026^
  46. Refer to these companies for secure payments The Siasat Daily, 2018-07-06, retrieved 2018-07-19^
  47. Refer how secure are your payments with PayU PayU Blog, 2021-12-22, retrieved 2021-12-22^
  48. Where is PayU Headed? Follow the Money Bank Innovation, retrieved 2018-07-19^
  49. ANI. PayU India launches payment collection feature Business Standard India, 2018-02-05, retrieved 2018-07-19^
  50. Finextra. Poland's PayU launches Visa Checkout Finextra Research, 2017-04-25, retrieved 2018-07-19^