Policybazaar parent gets board approval to set up a payments aggregator unit

PB Fintech, the operator of Policybazaar platform, announced it has received an approval from its Board of Directors to set up a subsidiary for a payment-aggregator business. The new unit will be called PB Pay Private Limited and will primarily work in the business of payment aggregators, domestic or internationally as directed by the RBI.

Following the announcement, PB Fintech shares rose more than 3% intraday, with a day high of ₹1,151 per share. Meanwhile, the stock price is up over 43% so far this year.

PB Pay Private Limited, once incorporated will apply to RBI for licence for the payments aggregator business. It will install digital or offline payment acceptance infrastructure for merchants. The paid-up share capital of the company would be ₹27 crore, PB Fintech revealed in a regulatory filing.

In the third quarter of 2023, PB Fintech, which also operates online credit marketplace Paisabazaar, reported a net profit of ₹37.2 crore, while its revenue from operations rose 42.7% to ₹870.9 crore. The company’s popular Policybazaar platform is an aggregator for insurance products and retirement plans.

In recent months, the company saw a series of departures from institutional investors. In January, Softbank's arm Svf Python II (Cayman) offloaded its entire stake in the company, which was around 2.5%, for a total value of ₹ 914 crore via open market transactions. A month later, Singapore-based Temasek Holdings through its subsidiary Claymore Investments divested its entire stake of 5.24% stake for ₹2,425 crore via through open market transactions.