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And now, Paytm faces its moment of truth – Livemint

BENGALURU :Paytm (One 97 Communications Ltd) has spent nearly 14,500 crore to convince Indians to substitute digital payments for cash. For a few months after demonetization in November 2016, it seemed like the company was on the cusp of victory.

But now, Paytm is in danger of having its lunch eaten by newer payment apps, even as cash remains the preferred choice of payments for most Indians.

Though digital payments are still expected to grow to $1 trillion by 2023 compared with $200 billion in 2018, according to a 2018 Credit Suisse report, digital wallets, where Paytm has established a monopoly, may soon become obsolete. Growth in digital payments is now being led by the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) platform. Dozens of large companies and small startups from Reliance Industries to Facebook to Razorpay are launching UPI-based products.

Two newer payment apps, in particular, are threatening to topple Paytm. For many months now, Walmart-owned PhonePe and Google Pay, the search giants eponymous payment app, have recorded more transactions on UPI than Paytm, said several people familiar with the matter. This development has been reported earlier in many publications.

With the expansion of UPI, usage of wallets is expected to wind down completely over the next few years. According to the latest data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), wallet transaction value dropped to 15,109 crore in October 2019, from 18,786 crore a year ago.

This has major implications for Paytm, which at $16 billion is Indias most valuable internet startup by far, ahead of the $10 billion valued Oyo. Clearly, as a funding slowdown for startups begins to take hold in India and globally, investors are raising doubts about Paytms soaring valuation and its business model.

Paytms corporate governance practices also attract scrutiny, not least because of the unrestrained power wielded by its founder and chief executive (CEO) Vijay Shekhar Sharma. Such practices are in the spotlight given the dramatic change in the fortunes of Uber and WeWork, where the controversial management styles of their founders were unquestioned by investors for many years, as long as business was growing and capital was easily available.

But Paytms biggest challenge remains in its core payments business. The company did not respond to a questionnaire from Mint.

Losses soar, growth falls

Paytm has jumped on the UPI platform, but both Google Pay and PhonePe are racing ahead, partly by splurging on cashbacks and marketingthe same means that were earlier deployed by Paytm to beat rivals such as Freecharge, PayU and MobiKwik.

The efforts made by UPI-based apps have started to take a toll on Paytm. The companys revenues increased only 8% to 3,579.7 crore for the year ended 31 March 2019, according to its annual report. At the same time, it was forced to spend hundreds of crores of rupees on cashbacks to match its rivals. Consequently, its reported net loss ballooned to 4,217.2 crore in FY19, compared with 1,604.3 crore in the previous fiscal year.

These are worrying numbers, especially for a firm that is losing market share and whose ability to retain its leadership position is unclear. Yet, last month, Paytm raised $1 billion in fresh capital from existing investors Ant Financial, SoftBank Vision Fund and Discovery Capital, as well as from new investors T Rowe Price Associates Inc. Paytms valuation jumped to $16 billion from $10-11 billion, when it had secured its last funding round from Berkshire Hathaway in September 2018.

Since early 2015, Paytm has raised nearly $4 billion in capital to lure customers and merchants alike. Most of its spending has gone towards cashbacks and marketing. Clearly, the spending was unsustainable. In recognition, the company has moved to slash spending on cashbacks to bring expenses under control over the past six months. It has even begun to charge customers for processing transactions, a fee that it used to bear earlier.

Paytm has also redoubled efforts to increase revenues from its financial services businesses. CEO Sharma and his investors are betting that after drawing in millions of customers by offering cashbacks, the company can persuade them to take loans, buy insurance and spend on wealth management services on the platformall of which offer higher margins than plain digital payments.

But despite its efforts, Paytm primarily remains a payments app. It has struggled to expand the newer businesses, in which it faces competition from established offline financial services firms as well as specialty internet startups.

Digital-offline war

One 97 was founded by Sharma in 2000 as a provider of mobile-based services. Many years later, he pivoted and entered the wallet business. After a large funding round by Ant Financial, an affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding, in early 2015, the company quickly became the leading mobile payments app in the country.

It received an unexpected boost from demonetization in November 2016 that forced Indians to use digital payments instead of cash for many months. Paytm ended up as the single-biggest beneficiary of the move and its business boomed. In May 2017, it closed a $1.4 billion round from SoftBank Vision Fund.

But at the same time, UPI, which offered a faster, more convenient way of making payments, had started coming up as an alternative to wallets. By the end of 2017, growth of digital wallets had stalled, as UPI-based apps like Google Pay and PhonePe were leading the expansion of digital payments. By then Paytm, too, had moved to the UPI platform to survive.

Currently, both Google Pay and PhonePe have more than 65 million monthly active users, a key indicator of the size of a payments apps business. Paytm claims to be the largest payments app and says it has more than 140 million monthly users.

Since cutting cashbacks earlier this year, Paytm has consciously reduced its people-to-people business, which had no margins and burnt a hole in its finances. Payments on online firms such as Flipkart, Amazon, Swiggy and others are now in place. Instead Paytm has been growing its offline merchant payments, which has become the key battleground in digital payments.

Indias retail market is mostly unorganized and dominated by offline stores. Payments firms are now in race to persuade kirana stores, pharmacies, roadside cigarette sellers and others to use their apps to accept payments.

Google launched an app for merchants in September. Already, more than 5 million merchants have downloaded the app, shows Android data. PhonePe has more than 8 million merchants on its platform, according to the company. Paytm, which had a head start of several years, has 14 million merchants, but the speedy growth of its rivals is worrying the companys investors.

Thats understandable: much of the growth in digital payments over the next decade will come from offline merchants accepting digital payments. Paytm cannot lose the offline battle," said an executive at a digital payments firm, requesting anonymity. Online payments is done and is likely to be stable for now. The growth is in offline payments. This is the big areas of focus for Paytm. So Google Pays growth is a major cause of worry for Paytm."

Paytm and others will soon have to face a formidable rival: WhatsApp, the messaging service owned by Facebook. WhatsApp launched payments on trial for some of its users in February 2018. But its full launch has been delayed because of concerns raised by RBI and the government over data localization and other regulatory compliance issues. Industry executives say WhatsApps entry in the payments space will transform the sector as it is the most widely used app in India.

Paytm recognized the threat from WhatsApp. In February 2018, Sharma alleged that the messaging service was flouting rules and putting consumers at risk because it was skipping steps in the payments process. Sharma has been lobbying the government to bar WhatsApp from launching its payments service. But in October, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told investors in an earnings call that WhatsApp would soon launch its payments service in India.

Another headache for Paytm, and other digital payment apps, is the KYC (know your customer) deadline of February 2020 set by RBI. Paytm said less than a third of its 350 million registered users are KYC compliant. Unless the central bank extends the deadline or eases its regulations, majority of Paytm users would be barred from using the platform. Others such as Google Pay, PhonePe and Amazon Pay would also be hit by the measure.

Weak corporate governance

Earlier this year, Sharma rehired his former secretary, Sonia Dhawan, at Paytm First Games (Gamepind Entertainment), a joint venture between Paytm and Alibaba.

Dhawan had been arrested in October 2018 after Sharma and his younger brother, Ajay Shekhar Sharmaa senior executive at Paytmhad accused her and others of extortion.

In late October 2018, Ajay Shekhar Sharma filed a police complaint accusing Dhawan, her husband Rupak Jain, and two others of demanding ransom from the Paytm CEO. He had said in the complaint that Dhawan, who was close to the Paytm CEO, had access to confidential data about the company and Sharma. The four alleged blackmailers were arrested following the complaint.

However, in statements to various media outlets, Dhawan denied any wrongdoing. She was finally granted bail in March 2019 by the Allahabad high court.

In June, Dhawan joined social networking startup Sheroes, where Sharma is a board member. In September, Gamepind Entertainment hired Dhawan as vice president of corporate communications. Paytm even awarded her shares in the company in June, show documents with the Registrar of Companies.

It is not clear what led to the reconciliation between Sharma and Dhawan. What is clear, however, is the unrestrained power wielded by Sharma despite the presence of powerful investors such as Alipay, SoftBank and SAIF Partners, and their toleration of Paytms corporate governance practices.

Several former and current Paytm executives, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that Sharma is the all-powerful founder-CEO. Among Paytm investors, Alipay has the most say, but only to a limited extent. Paytm is practically a one-man show and it is run as per Vijays wishes. As long as there is growth, investors tend to overlook other matters. Systems and processes are very weak," said a Paytm executive.

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And now, Paytm faces its moment of truth - Livemint

Recent Research Analysts Ratings Updates for Renren (RENN) – Riverton Roll

Several brokerages have updated their recommendations and price targets on shares of Renren (NYSE: RENN) in the last few weeks:

RENN traded up $0.06 on Wednesday, reaching $0.83. The stock had a trading volume of 161,287 shares, compared to its average volume of 45,065. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.01. The company has a market capitalization of $57.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 0.64 and a beta of 0.62. Renren Inc has a fifty-two week low of $0.54 and a fifty-two week high of $2.47. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $0.79 and a 200-day moving average of $0.83.

Shares of Renren are going to reverse split before the market opens on Thursday, January 9th. The 1-3 reverse split was announced on Wednesday, December 11th. The number of shares owned by shareholders will be adjusted after the closing bell on Wednesday, January 8th.

Renren (NYSE:RENN) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 26th. The technology company reported ($0.12) EPS for the quarter. Renren had a negative return on equity of 29.31% and a net margin of 3.46%. The business had revenue of $104.77 million for the quarter. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Renren Inc will post -0.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in Renren stock. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Renren Inc (NYSE:RENN) by 38.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 539,121 shares of the technology companys stock after acquiring an additional 149,769 shares during the quarter. Morgan Stanley owned approximately 0.78% of Renren worth $523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.62% of the companys stock.

Renren Inc operates a social networking Internet platform in the People's Republic of China. It operates through two segments, Renren and Auto Group. The company operates Renren.com and Renren Mobile App that enable users to communicate and stay connected with friends, classmates, family members, and co-workers; and woxiu.com, a PC-based social video platform for users to stream their performances live to viewers.

Read More: How to invest using market indexes

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Recent Research Analysts Ratings Updates for Renren (RENN) - Riverton Roll

How To Better Your Skills When It Comes To SEO – Tech Times

SEO can sometimes make you draw back in horror. It's a process that can often be confusing, it ends up changing often, and if you want to stand a chance of staying relevant, it's important to improve it. Whether it's a website you're running as a side hustle or as a main business, here are some tips to better your skills when it comes to SEO.

Keep Up With The Basics

The basics of SEO are pretty easy to manage and something you can likely do yourself without too much hassle. These can be adjusting images so that they are compressed and at size that allows your webpages to run a lot quicker. Fixing broken links is something your website's host site will often remind you so that you can go in and fix them. There's nothing worse than a first-time visitor to your site, clicking on a link that doesn't work. Changing your alt texts to match the keywords used for the article are also useful. These are the basic SEO tips that you can do on a daily or weekly basis to just keep on top of, particularly if you're in a position where you can't hire the professional support yet. Always check up on your site to make sure that it's loading quickly and that everything is easily navigable. There are plenty of SEO training videos out there for you to utilize.

Analyze What Needs Work

There are going to be areas of your website that need work so it's always good to check in on your site to make sure it's performing as it should be. You may want to think about making adjustments to your website design or layout in order to keep it updated and looking fresh. As a regular visitor, it can be nice to see a change or update in the way a website looks every so often. Try to elevate areas of it where you can and always have that attitude of constantly being able to improve it and make it better. Be sure to look at your analytics to when it comes to where your visitors are going on the site and where there might be issues that are causing users to move off from the site. It could be due to a broken link or simply being a page that is boring to look at or read.

Ask For Professional Help

Professional help is useful to use when you've exhausted all your own personal skills and knowledge when it comes to SEO. As a process, it's something that is constantly changing, and so it's necessary to get additional assistance in order to grow the influence of your website on the internet. You can also learn and grow your own skills in SEO by seeing what changes the company you use are doing. When it comes to search engine optimization, it's something that will often need constant work, but it's worth the investment when it comes to the overall success of your site.

Use Customer Feedback

Customer feedback is a wonderful thing to have and to take advantage of because they know you best. Ask them for regular feedback on aspects of the website from the layout to how much they might love certain articles. You can either do that or get some unbiased strangers to test out your website and to make comments on how effective your site is. Both work extremely well, and both are worth doing to help improve the look of your website.

Always Aim To Learn Something New

With SEO, every day is a new change to something within this process. Whether it's something the search engines change or an addition to your site that's worth making. Learning something new every day is certainly a mantra that's worth using. So look at what you've learned so far when it comes to this process and what you're still struggling to understand. Make it your goal to learn a new element to this process and hopefully you'll find that you've got a more professional grasp on how it all works.

Bettering your skills when it comes to SEO is useful, so don't let yourself fall behind and become irrelevant.

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How To Better Your Skills When It Comes To SEO - Tech Times

Learn A New Skill in 2020 With These 8 Training Bundles – The Daily Caller

The start of a new year always feels optimistic and full of promise and you might as well take advantage of that momentum and learn a new skill in 2020. The best way to show employers that youre worthy of a raise or even a promotion is to prove that youre constantly investing in your own growth. These eight trainings are focused around some of the most desired, marketable skills this upcoming year. And you can learn (and relearn) these lessons on your own time, if necessary.

The Premium 2020 Project & Quality Management Certification Bundle

Develop your project management chops with this highly comprehensive project management training. It includes 11 different courses that will help you complete business projects on time and on budget all while minimizing waste and increasing quality. It even includes courses covering the highly coveted Scrum and Agile methodologies.

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The Complete 2020 IT Certification Exam Prep Mega Bundle

When it comes to technology, developing your acumen can be a vast and tricky grounds to navigate. Thats where the Complete 2020 IT Certification Exam Prep Mega Bundle comes into play, covering the most in-demand IT exams. That includes AWS, CompTIA, Microsoft Azure, Cisco and more. Its what you need to add to your repertoire of skills or even start a brand new skill set.

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The Complete Videography Bundle: Beginner to Expert

Create beautiful, professional looking videos with this Complete Videography Bundle: Beginner to Expert. Video content is a surefire way to keep users engaged with content, and this bundle includes ten different courses that show you how to use multiple tools to edit and produce compelling videos.

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The 2020 Full Stack Digital Marketing Certification Bundle

Any well-rounded marketer needs to know how to use digital platforms to better optimize their campaigns. This 2020 Full Stack Digital Marketing Certification Bundle includes 12 courses that cover Google Analytics, YouTube, Google AdWords and more plus the methodologies that back them up, including SEO best practices, optimizing sales strategies and more.

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The Complete 2020 Adobe CC Certification Bundle

Adobes Creative Cloud is an essential part of virtually every designers skill set, and this training can get you up to speed. Learn to beautifully edit photos using Photoshop, develop creative vector graphics with Illustrator and much more. This collection even covers the latest and greatest Adobe techniques, so if youre already advanced/intermediate with Adobe, youll still have something new to learn.

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The Complete Microsoft Excel & VBA Bundle

Whether youve been avoiding Microsoft Excel or use it daily, the Complete Microsoft Excel & VBA Bundle will show you how to use this powerful problem solving platform to its true capacity. From automating your most repetitive processes to crunching huge datasets, youll learn how to use Excel to develop business insights.

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The Complete 2020 Google SEO & Growth Hacking Bundle

If you want to learn quick ways to grow your company, look no further than this Complete 2020 Google SEO & Growth Hacking Bundle. This bundle shows you marketing growth techniques that help you grow your audience exponentially from bringing in thousands of leads and subscribers, to optimizing your website for sales, and more.

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The Premium 2020 Learn to Code Certification Bundle is your ticket to learning the worlds most popular and fundamental programming languages, to the most niche, in-demand languages right now. Its the perfect learning bundle for both beginners and experts.

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Learn A New Skill in 2020 With These 8 Training Bundles - The Daily Caller

Become an in-demand digital marketer in 2020 with the help of this training – Boing Boing

Digital marketing in the coming decade will be a battle fought on multiple fronts. Companies are finding their customers on more web outlets than ever, and they're not getting any less fickle.

It can all be pretty confusing for anyone looking to make their brand breakthrough, but the 2020 Full Stack Digital Marketing Certification Bundle is one of the best resources for anyone looking to cut through the noise.

The package has 12 courses that serve as instructions for all the best tools in the marketer's belt. No "rah-rah" pep talks here, just raw info about how you can use today's biggest platforms to elevate your brand.

There are specific looks at what draws face time on YouTube, Google Ads and Facebook. You'll learn how to use Google Analytics to track and act upon shifts in incoming traffic. And of course, you'll get expert, up to date advice on how to use SEO effectively across the board.

The bundle is already over 90% off the cost of the individual courses.

Getting ratiod, getting dunked on, the dynamics that happen that we think arent as healthy are definitely part of our thinking about this.

This is the future, I guess.

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When real athletes train, they clearly dont go into it blindly. Balance is important, and the recovery is just as important as the workout itself. As for the rest of us, we barely have time for the workout, much less a professional massage afterward. Thats why a professional-grade hand-held massage gun like the DEEP4s might []

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Become an in-demand digital marketer in 2020 with the help of this training - Boing Boing