BharatPe Unicorn

BharatPe pioneered a single QR code interoperable with 100+ UPI apps and offered Zero Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) payment acceptance, which drove broad merchant adoption.

Uses a merchant's UPI transaction history to assess creditworthiness and disburse unsecured business loans without collateral.

BharatPe's core operations center on providing financial services to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) and offline merchants across India, including kirana/grocery stores.

BharatPe UPI app serves individual consumers for scan-and-pay payments, bill payments and rewards, alongside its merchant-facing products.

On-ground sales agents (Field Sales Executives and Territory Managers) use the BharatPe Captain app to onboard merchants in person and cross-sell loans, POS devices and other products, then continue as the merchant's ongoing point of contact — a 'feet-on-street' relationship model built for low digital-penetration markets.

BharatPe operates 'BharatPe Club', described as India's first merchant loyalty club, giving small retailers reward-based reasons to stay engaged with the platform beyond pure transaction processing.

BharatPe acquired loyalty platform PAYBACK India from American Express/ICICI Investments in June 2021 — its first-ever acquisition — and rebranded it as 'Zillion' in 2023, giving BharatPe a 100-million-member rewards network to deepen merchant and consumer engagement.

Merchants manage the relationship directly through the BharatPe for Business app and web dashboard, viewing transactions, settlements, reconciliation, GST-ready reports and offers without needing to go through a call center or agent for routine servicing.

Physical payment-acceptance channels distributed to merchants: BharatPe QR, the BharatPe One all-in-one device, BharatSwipe card-swipe POS terminals, and BharatPe Speaker.

Consumer-facing mobile app for scan-and-pay UPI payments, credit card and utility bill payments.

A dedicated field force (Territory Managers and Field Sales Executives) equipped with the BharatPe Captain app continuously acquires new merchants and sells add-on products to existing ones — the core distribution activity behind the merchant network.

BharatPe runs a payments-plus-credit engine: unsecured merchant loans via NBFC partners (e.g., LiquiLoans, LenDenClub), gold loans up to INR 20 lakh, two-wheeler loans with OTO Capital, and loans-against-mutual-funds with Volt Money, all scored using merchant transaction data.

Processing and settling zero-fee UPI transactions across 100+ UPI apps via its interoperable QR code is BharatPe's highest-volume day-to-day activity, generating the transaction data used for both engagement and credit scoring.

Running the acquired Zillion (ex-PAYBACK India) loyalty platform — managing brand partnerships and point redemptions for 100M+ members — is an ongoing activity used to retain merchants and consumers on the BharatPe ecosystem.

BharatPe's core asset is its base of registered small merchants — kirana stores, street vendors, salons and service providers — who generate the transaction and repayment data the rest of the business is built on.

A proprietary single QR code lets merchants accept payments from 100+ UPI apps, backed by BharatPe's own payment-switching infrastructure — the technology resource underlying its zero-fee UPI acceptance product.

BharatPe Group acquired a 51% stake in Mumbai-based NBFC Trillion Loans in April 2023 (later raised to ~60%), giving it a regulated on-balance-sheet lending license rather than relying solely on third-party NBFC partners.

BharatPe uses an in-house, AI-based underwriting model that scores merchant creditworthiness from their QR/UPI transaction history, a data resource that lets it and partner NBFCs extend unsecured working-capital loans without traditional collateral.

BharatPe's merchant loans are disbursed by NBFC partners (with BharatPe's own NBFC arm Resilient Capital also providing on-balance-sheet lending) rather than by BharatPe directly.

BharatPe holds a stake in Unity Small Finance Bank, part of its broader financial-services investments and subsidiaries.

Lending is the primary revenue source: interest earned on unsecured merchant business loans, disbursed via NBFC partners using transaction-history-based credit scoring.

Recurring fees for POS/card-swipe device rentals and subscription fees for premium merchant services such as advanced analytics and marketing tools.

Commissions earned from partnerships with insurance companies and mutual fund houses distributed through the merchant platform.

BharatPe's single largest cost line is transaction processing charges (payment gateway/switching costs for UPI QR volume), which surged 74% to INR 395.5 Cr in FY23 from INR 226.9 Cr in FY22, and rose further to ~INR 390.7 Cr by FY25.

Staff costs (salaries, wages, incentives for its large field-sales and tech workforce) rose 65% to INR 304.4 Cr in FY23 from INR 184.7 Cr in FY22, and grew further to roughly INR 360 Cr in FY24.

As part of its co-lending/FLDG arrangements backstopping NBFC partners on merchant loans, BharatPe recorded financial guarantee expenses of INR 268.2 Cr in FY23, roughly flat versus INR 266.6 Cr in FY22 — a structural cost of the lending-facilitation model.

Legal expenses climbed 20% to INR 44.5 Cr in FY23 from INR 37 Cr in FY22, driven largely by the company's ongoing multi-forum litigation with co-founder Ashneer Grover.