Pine Labs profit jumps over sixfold as India’s digital payments boom lifts demand
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Oct 29 (Reuters) – Indian fintech firm Pine Labs reported a more than sixfold jump in second-quarter profit on Thursday, buoyed by rising adoption of digital payment services, sending its shares up nearly 6%.More than 500 million people use the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) in India for transactions ranging from everyday purchases to high-value consumer goods.Here are some details:• Consolidated profit rose to 385.7 million rupees ($4.05 million) in the quarter ended September, up from 59.7 million rupees a year earlier• Revenue from operations rose 24% to 8.06 billion rupees• The company’s digital infrastructure and transaction platform, which is its largest segment by revenue and primarily monetised through subscriptions and transaction fees, posted a 20.8% rise in revenue• Pine Labs said demand for its payment terminals strengthened in the mid-market segment, where digital checkout points grew 49% year-on-year• The company said it stands to benefit from the government’s proposed framework of 0.4% merchant charge on UPI transactions exceeding 2,000 rupees• “Pine Labs sits squarely in the window the framework was designed to monetise,” it said, adding that nearly two-thirds of its UPI gross transaction value comes from transactions above 2,000 rupees($1 = 95.2200 Indian rupees)(Reporting by Aishwarya Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)