India: Pine Labs Profit Jumps Sixfold as Online and UPI Payments Grow
Pine Labs, the Indian merchant payments company best known for the card machines found at shop counters across India, made more than six times as much profit in the July–September quarter as it did a year earlier. Revenue grew 24%, its fastest pace in five quarters, as more payments moved to online checkouts and India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI).
Key facts
- Net profit for the quarter to 30 September 2026 was about ₹38.6 crore (roughly 386 million Indian rupees), up from about ₹6 crore a year earlier.
- Revenue from operations rose 24% year on year to ₹806 crore, from ₹650 crore.
- Pine Labs processed 2.29 billion transactions, up 22% from 1.88 billion.
- Its merchant base grew to 1.16 million, and digital checkout points rose to 2.23 million from 1.9 million.
- Adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) reached ₹155 crore, a margin of 19%.
Where the growth came from
Pine Labs started out selling point-of-sale (POS) terminals, the devices that let shops accept card payments. Today it earns money from a wider mix: in-store payments, online payment gateway services, “pay later” and instalment options offered at the checkout, and prepaid cards and gift cards that it issues for companies.
The company reports two main business lines. Its digital infrastructure and transaction platform, which covers payments for merchants, brought in ₹532 crore, up from ₹440 crore. Its issuing and acquiring platform, which includes prepaid card programmes, brought in ₹275 crore, up from ₹210 crore.
Online and real-time payments did much of the work. Value processed through online payments jumped 140%, with revenue from that business up more than 45%. The value of UPI-linked payments handled by Pine Labs rose more than 77%. UPI is India’s real-time payment system, run by the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), that lets people pay instantly from a bank account by scanning a QR code or entering a phone number.
Profit grew far faster than revenue because costs rose more slowly. Total expenses climbed about 16%, while total income rose 24%. Reports of the results also credited better operating efficiency and higher earnings per transaction.
Why it matters
UPI is free for most users, which has long raised a hard question for India’s payment companies: how do you make money on payments that customers do not pay for? Pine Labs’ answer is to sell services around the payment, such as instalment plans, offers from card issuers and brands, and software that helps large retailers manage checkouts across stores and websites. This quarter suggests the model can work at scale.
The results also matter for investors watching Indian fintech after a wave of public listings. Pine Labs listed on Indian stock exchanges in late 2025, and a steady run of profitable quarters gives listed payment firms a stronger case to markets that still question how profitable digital payments can be.
For the region, Pine Labs is more than an Indian story. It already runs businesses in Southeast Asia and the Middle East, and in 2021 it bought Malaysian deals and payments app Fave for about US$45 million (RM185 million). Earlier this month it also teamed up with WEBXPAY to let merchants in Sri Lanka accept UPI and Indian cards from visiting tourists. A stronger, cash-generating parent gives it more room to grow these overseas units, including in Malaysia.
What to watch
- Whether India’s government decides to allow fees on UPI payments for large merchants, which would change how much companies like Pine Labs can earn from UPI.
- How fast online payments and prepaid card issuing keep growing, since they drove much of this quarter’s gains.
- Any new push by Pine Labs in Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, where it owns Fave, and in cross-border UPI acceptance for Indian travellers.
Related: Sri Lanka: Pine Labs and WEBXPAY let merchants accept UPI and Indian cards · India’s UPI fee delay buys time, but merchants are already nudging shoppers to cash
Sources: Inc42 (October 2026), Angel One (October 2026), Analytics Insight (October 2026), Fintech News Malaysia (April 2021)
