B2B Payments Firm PayMate Enters SMB Lending Market

India-based PayMate is expanding its offering beyond B2B payment services as it steps into the small business (SMB) lending market.

Reports in The Hindu BusinessLine on Friday (Oct. 12) said PayMate is collaborating with local banks, as well as Non-Bank Financial Companies (NBFCs), to introduce a small business finance option for its customers. The move is part of PayMate’s expansion strategy after collecting credit data of its small business customers already using its platform.

The company offers a solution to support digitization of B2B payments for both SMBs and larger corporates, reports said. The company also recently acquired online peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform Z2P Technologies for an undisclosed sum.

“We are in talks with NBFCs and banks to provide credit to [SMBs],” said the company’s CEO and Founder Ajay Adiseshann in a statement to BusinessLine. “Credit will be extended through our platform, rather than us being the lender. PayMate will earn via transaction fees.”

He added that, in the last two years, the company’s transaction volume has been growing by an estimated 100 percent year over year. Moreover, “revenues have doubled in the first six months of this fiscal year,” though he did not disclose specific financial details for the company.

Earlier this year, the company revealed a collaboration with Visa to further push digital B2B payments in India. Visa is using the PayMate platform to facilitate B2B payments in the country. At the time, Adiseshann spoke with PYMNTS about the company’s planned ambitions to enter the small business lending market.

“Until now, we were more a payments company — which was loosely facilitating credit through banking partners. Now, we want to get deeper into lending,” he said in an interview in May.

As India continues its push for a cashless economy, other digital B2B payments players have strengthened their position in the market. Last year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) gave approval for Infibeam to launch its own B2B payments service, for example.