MobiKwik will return to profitability in second half of FY26, says co-founder Upasana Taku

Digital financial services platform MobiKwik expects to return to profitability in the second half of FY26, co-founder and CFO Upasana Taku told CNBC-TV18 on the sidelines of the Global Fintech Festival, adding that the company has already started showing improvement in its results.

Taku said the company had been profitable for six consecutive quarters before going public, but faced temporary setbacks due to headwinds in the unsecured lending sector. “It’s just a matter of bad luck or destiny that at the very time we were listed, there were a lot of headwinds in the unsecured lending sector, not just for MobiKwik, but the entire sector,” she said.

She explained that lending partners, including banks and NBFCs, had reduced their disbursements during this period, leading to a decline in revenues from credit distribution. “We momentarily fell into the red because of these things,” Taku said, while expressing confidence in the company’s financial recovery.

“In fact, from Q4 FY25 to Q1 FY26 (March to June), we have already shown improvement. We have gone from around ₹45 crore to around ₹31 crore in terms of negative EBITDA, a change of ₹15 crore,” she said. “If we continue to do that, then after one or two quarters we should become profitable again.” Taku said the company’s core payments business continues to grow strongly. MobiKwik recorded around three times growth in its payments business last year and continues to see healthy expansion in both the consumer and merchant segments. At the same time, credit distribution is recovering, with disbursement growth of 30 to 32% in recent quarters.

The company is also banking on new products and regulatory approvals to expand its portfolio. MobiKwik has obtained a payments aggregator license and a brokerage license which Taku believes will drive the next phase of growth. “We are really trying to make MobiKwik a complete suite of financial products with a focus on delivering to the tier 2 and tier 3 markets, what we call Bharat,” she said.

Among its new launches, the company rolled out a RuPay credit card on UPI called First Card, which aims to make access to credit more inclusive. “Very few Indians own a credit card in India, and we want to bring this product to everyone. Starting from ₹5,000, anyone can get a credit card on the MobiKwik app. That’s why it’s called First Card. It’s your first credit card,” Taku said.

She also highlighted MobiKwik’s growing focus on wealth management and personal finance solutions, including Lens.AI, a free AI-powered tool that helps users analyze their financial portfolios. “This is the first step for a person to make informed decisions, because not everyone has the time – whether it’s you, me or a small business owner – to stare at screens all day to analyze our money movements,” she said.

Taku added that the company’s brokerage business, once launched, will further complement its existing wealth products such as digital gold, mutual funds and high-yield fixed deposits.

With strong growth in its payments business, new credit products and diversification into wealth management, Taku believes MobiKwik is well placed to generate sustainable profitability in FY26.