BharatPe
Acquisitions
3
Major Deals Covered
$27M
Disclosed Deal Value
BharatPe's largest disclosed acquisition here is PAYBACK India for $27M in 2021. This page covers 3 major deals from 2021 to 2023, each with its price where disclosed and the reason behind it.
| Company | Year | Price | Purpose |
|---|---|---|---|
| PAYBACK India | 2021 | $27.0M | Bought India's multi-brand loyalty programme PAYBACK India from American Express and ICICI Investments Strategic Fund in June 2021. |
| Unity Small Finance Bank (49% stake) | 2021 | Undisclosed | BharatPe and Centrum Financial Services formed a consortium that received an RBI small finance bank licence in October 2021 to take over the collapsed Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank. Centrum holds 51% and BharatPe 49%. |
| Trillion Loans | 2023 | Undisclosed | Bought 51% of Mumbai based NBFC Trillionloans Fintech so BharatPe could lend from its own regulated balance sheet. Deal value was not disclosed. |
2023
Bought 51% of Mumbai based NBFC Trillionloans Fintech so BharatPe could lend from its own regulated balance sheet. Deal value was not disclosed.
Trillion Loans handled 25 to 30% of BharatPe's loan disbursals by 2025, and BharatPe raised its stake to 74%.
Gives BharatPe direct control over credit policy alongside its partner NBFCs.
2021
$27M
Bought India's multi-brand loyalty programme PAYBACK India from American Express and ICICI Investments Strategic Fund in June 2021.
Gave BharatPe a consumer rewards network to connect with its merchant base.
Rebranded as Zillion in May 2023; Zillion Coins are now the reward currency on the Unity Bank BharatPe credit card.
2021
BharatPe and Centrum Financial Services formed a consortium that received an RBI small finance bank licence in October 2021 to take over the collapsed Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank. Centrum holds 51% and BharatPe 49%.
Unity opened on 1 November 2021 with over $128 million (₹1,100 crore) of equity capital, and PMC Bank's branches became Unity branches on 25 January 2022.
BharatPe is Unity's technology service provider for UPI. In 2026 the shareholders went to arbitration over a proposed capital increase that BharatPe says would dilute its stake.
Since 2023 BharatPe has grown by going deeper with the merchants it has. Lending stays at the centre: it added secured two-wheeler loans with OTO Capital and loans against mutual funds with Volt Money in August 2024, onboarded more NBFC partners in FY2025 and raised its Trillion Loans stake from 51% to 74%. Payment acceptance is the second push, with card machines and soundboxes; Himanshu Verma was appointed head of the POS business in March 2026. On the consumer side it runs a UPI payments app, the Zillion loyalty programme and, since August 2025, a no-fee RuPay credit card with Unity Bank that turns spends into EMIs of up to 12 months. Products that relied on peer-to-peer lending were scaled back after RBI tightened those rules in 2024.
BharatPe gives merchants a single UPI QR code with no fee on UPI payments and earns from the products it sells on top. The largest is credit: collateral-free business loans underwritten on a merchant's QR transaction history and repaid through small daily deductions from settlements. Financial services, mainly this lending, made up about 60% of FY2025 revenue, close to ~$116 million (₹1,000 crore). The loans are funded by partner NBFCs and by BharatPe's own NBFC, Trillion Loans, which handled 25 to 30% of disbursals. The second line is devices: BharatSwipe card machines and soundboxes rented to merchants. The third is payment processing, now including online payments under an RBI payment aggregator licence received in April 2025. Consumer products, such as the Unity Bank BharatPe RuPay credit card and the Zillion loyalty programme, sit on the side. In FY2025, service fees (processing charges, loan commissions and device rentals) were ~$169 million (₹1,456 crore) of the ~$193 million (₹1,667 crore) operating revenue and the NBFC added ~$24.5 million (₹211 crore).
PAYBACK India in June 2021 for about $27 million, a 49% stake in Unity Small Finance Bank through a 2021 consortium with Centrum, and 51% of NBFC Trillion Loans in 2023, later raised to 74%.
BharatPe bought it from American Express and ICICI Investments Strategic Fund and renamed it Zillion in May 2023. Zillion Coins are the reward currency on the Unity Bank BharatPe credit card.
It joined Centrum Financial Services in a bid to take over the failed PMC Bank. The RBI licensed their joint venture, Unity Small Finance Bank, which opened on 1 November 2021.
To lend from its own regulated balance sheet rather than only through partner NBFCs. Trillion Loans handled 25 to 30% of BharatPe's disbursals by 2025.
In a massive regulatory coup, BharatPe partnered with Centrum Group to take over the collapsed PMC Bank, creating Unity Small Finance Bank and securing a highly coveted banking license.
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