Gravitational pull

What’s pinning down Instamojo and Razorpay?

The two nimble fintech startups are at an inflection point. Their existing businesses are no longer enough for them to grow. What now?

Arundhati Ramanathan, 4 Oct 2017

Even though there are 18 million SMEs online, they don’t account for much when it comes to online spending

Instamojo and Razorpay started by focusing on this market but a lopsided SME segment makes it a difficult business to be in

Instamojo wants to evolve from letting SMEs not just accept payments but also meet their other commerce needs like credit, logistics

Razorpay want to no longer be only a gateway but also help businesses in money movement

Payments today looks like a mad scramble. Companies are falling over each other to find the new best way to pay, and businesses have swallowed the hard truth that they can no longer just accept cash. Demonetisation saw to it that even hole-in-the-wall shops got on the digital payment wagon, whether they liked it or not.

Of the 51 million small and medium businesses, nearly 16 million are online. Those in the payments industry estimate that less than 10% of them accept digital payments as bank transfers still reign supreme.

AUTHOR

Arundhati Ramanathan

Arundhati is Bengaluru-based. She is interested in how people use money in the digital age and how new economies will take shape based on that interaction. She has spent over 10 years reporting and writing on various subjects. Previous stints were at Mint, Outlook Business and Reuters.

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What’s pinning down Instamojo and Razorpay?