Airtel Payments Bank Crests 1B in Transaction Volume

Airtel Payments Bank now has over one billion transactions on its platform during September quarter 2021-2022, sources say.

This represents around 61% of its year-over-year growth in transaction volume.

This, the report says, has shown the strength of Airtel’s digital-first model and its distribution of more than 5 million banking points, allowing it to scale up rapidly.

The growth in transaction volume has been sustained by a widespread pandemic-fueled switch to digital payments.

Growth is also spurred by new digital product offerings allowing for UPI-based payments, bill and utility payments, mobile and DTH recharges and its set of retail solutions.

The report says Airtel has been one of the fastest-growing banks. It now has more than 115 million users around India and over 8 million merchants.

The company’s goal is to add more digital inclusion for users.

“Airtel Payments Bank is able to offer its solutions to both the urban digital and the rural underbanked customer,” said Anubrata Biswas, CEO of Airtel. “Our products are user-need focused and designed to bring millions of users in the ambit of digital banking.”

PYMNTS reports that Airtel Africa got a $200 million investment for its Airtel Mobile Commerce unit, from the Qatar Investment Authority.

See also: QIA Backs Airtel Africa’s Mobile Commerce Unit With $200M

Airtel Africa had a valuation of $2.65 billion. It’s listed on the London Stock Exchange and has been working to bring telecommunications services to Africa.

The new investment will see QIA take a minority stake in Airtel Mobile Commerce, which operates several Airtel Africa mobile money operations.

The new capital will be used by Airtel Africa to bolster its asset monetization strategy, and the company might go public in the next four years.

Airtel Africa also plans to use the new funding for debt reductions, network enhancements and sales infrastructure.

This follows Mastercard’s investment of $100 million into Airtel Mobile Commerce.