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PayU

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Growthother
Pricingusage-based

PayU is a payment gateway serving merchants in high-growth markets, led by CEO Laurent Lemoll, a former PayPal general manager. In 2016 the company processed about $18 billion in payment volume, growing roughly 40% year over year, and charges commissions of 100 to 300 basis points per transaction. PayU is expanding into consumer and merchant credit, with a goal of about 10% of revenue from credit within three years.

Why It Worked
  • •Processing about $18 billion in volume at 40% year-over-year growth shows that a regional, local-first payments approach can scale fast in markets that global players struggle to serve.
  • •Moving from pure payments into credit uses the transaction data and merchant network PayU already owns, which lowers the risk of lending compared with banks that rely on traditional credit scoring.
  • •Targeting India's large population with thin credit files, and scoring them with mobile and alternative data, opens a lending market that banks have largely ignored.
  • •Pairing payments with financial products like LazyPay makes PayU more valuable to merchants, who treat the credit offer as a marketing tool that drives more sales.
How to Replicate
  • 1.Build the payment product around local market needs and regional platforms rather than a single global offering.
  • 2.Monetize transactions with a per-transaction commission, adding value-added services once the merchant network is established.
  • 3.Use existing transaction data to build credit scoring for underserved customers before launching lending products.
  • 4.Offer consumer-facing credit at checkout, such as pay-later options, so merchants see the product as a sales driver rather than a cost.

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AI-extracted from the linked source. Monthly revenue can include one-time sales or donations, and may describe a later stage than the first-customer story.