Cashfree, a key player in the digital payments sector, experienced stagnant growth for the fiscal year ending March 2024, primarily due to a ban from the Reserve Bank of India on onboarding new merchants that lasted almost a year, from December 2022 to December 2023.
According to the company’s annual financial statements submitted to the Registrar of Companies, Cashfree Payments recorded a 4.7% increase in revenue from operations, reaching Rs. 642.7 crore in FY24, compared to Rs 613.8 crore in FY23.
The absence of fresh capital inflow over the past 30 months resulted in minimal non-operating income, amounting to Rs 2.1 crore from bank deposits and tax refunds. Thus, the total revenue reported by the Bengaluru-based firm for the last fiscal year was Rs 444.7 crore. While Cashfree did not disclose a detailed revenue breakdown for FY24, its filings indicate that service sales remained the primary revenue source. Analysis suggests that Cashfree earns through transaction-based fees, which include a percentage or flat fee on payment and disbursement transactions, along with various business payout services.
Cashfree’s largest expense category was materials, which held steady at Rs. 426.6 crore. Employee benefits saw a significant rise of 23%, totaling Rs 245 crore in FY24. Additional expenses included the merchant discount rate (MDR), infrastructure, and compliance costs. Overall, the company’s total expenditures experienced a slight increase, reaching Rs. 779.43 crore in FY24. In line with its revenue performance, Cashfree’s losses marginally increased to Rs 135 crore for the last fiscal year, compared to a loss of Rs 133 crore in FY23.
Cashfree primarily competes with major players such as Razorpay, PayU, and CCAvenue. For the previous fiscal year, Razorpay’s payment gateway division achieved Rs 2,068 crore in revenue and reported a profit after tax of Rs 34 crore.
In contrast, PayU experienced a more modest revenue growth of 11%, totaling $444 million for the fiscal year ending March 2024, and also reported losses. Over its nine-year existence, Cashfree has raised around Rs 321.57 crore (approximately $42 million). Notably, the company has not secured any new capital since June 2021, when it completed the final tranche of its Series B funding. This round was initially announced in November 2020, amounting to $35 million. Sources indicate that Cashfree is currently engaged in discussions to secure fresh funding, although these efforts have not yet come to fruition.
Looking ahead, Cashfree is poised to enhance its scale in the current fiscal year as it anticipates benefits from the PA/PG and recently acquired Payment Instrument (PPI) licenses, which are expected to take effect in FY25.
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