Paytm (Pay Through Mobile) was founded in 2010 by Vijay Shekhar Sharma under the parent company One97 Communications. It started as a mobile recharge and bill payment platform, but its big break came in November 2016 when India’s government demonetized 86% of the currency in circulation overnight. Suddenly, everyone needed digital payments, and Paytm was right there.
The company grew to over 300 million users and became synonymous with mobile payments in India. Its QR code stickers appeared at every shop, street vendor, and auto rickshaw. Paytm’s backers include SoftBank, Ant Group (Alibaba’s fintech arm), and Berkshire Hathaway.
Paytm went public on the BSE and NSE in November 2021 with India’s largest-ever IPO at the time, raising $2.5 billion. The listing was rough — shares dropped 27% on day one and continued falling, making it one of the worst-performing large IPOs globally.
In 2024, Paytm faced a major setback when the Reserve Bank of India ordered Paytm Payments Bank to stop onboarding new customers and wind down certain services due to compliance concerns. This forced the company to restructure its banking operations and migrate users to partner banks.
Despite these challenges, Paytm remains a major player in Indian fintech. Its products span payments, lending, insurance, wealth management, and commerce. The company is headquartered in Noida, near Delhi, and employs thousands across India.
