Manipal Payment and Identity Solutions Limited

1. Overview

Manipal Payment and Identity Solutions Limited (formerly MCT Cards & Technology Limited), incorporated on February 19, 2008 in Karnataka, is a secure-printing and payment technology conglomerate operating at the intersection of the payment cards, identity documents, secure logistics and smart-tagging/IoT verticals. The Company is part of The Manipal Group, whose secure-printing lineage traces back to 1948 when the group was founded as Express Printers Private Limited to service banking-sector printing requirements. Its four core solution stacks span payment solutions (payment cards, cheque solutions, NFC/QR codes, wearables), identification solutions (driving licenses, registration certificates, national ID cards, transit management), secure solutions (secure logistics, insurance personalization, tamper-evident packaging, holograms) and smart tagging & IoT solutions (excise labels, RFID-based track-and-trace, anti-counterfeiting).

The Company operates from 10 facilities across India, with five located in Karnataka including both card-manufacturing units, and served over 300 customers in Fiscal 2026 including 22 private banks, 12 PSBs, 11 small finance banks, 78 co-operative banks and 60+ fintech companies/payment banks. In Fiscal 2026, it commanded an estimated 36.4% market share in India's credit card issuance market and 30.9% in the debit card issuance market, having billed 13.54 million credit cards and 72.66 million debit cards during the year. Globally, it was ranked the highest in India and 14th globally in terms of shipment of chip-and-magstripe payment cards in 2023, and among the top 10 card manufacturers for Mastercard and another major payment network. As of March 31, 2026, the Company held a patent for metal cards manufacturing in India and is one of the country's leading metal card manufacturers, supplying the top four credit card issuers in India.

The Company's manpower base stood at over 1,800 employees as of March 31, 2026.

2. Business Model and Revenue Streams

2.1 Revenue Composition by Product/Service

The Company's revenue mix is anchored by payment cards (both manufacturing and traded), which alone contributed 57.25% of revenue from operations in Fiscal 2026. The full breakdown is set out below (₹ Cr):

2.2 Geographic Revenue Split

The domestic market accounts for the overwhelming share of revenue, but exports have grown 5.4x over three years, from ₹17.62 Crores in FY24 to ₹95.70 Crores in FY26 (7.21% of revenue). Products such as credit cards, debit cards and metal cards are exported to 15+ countries including UK, Singapore, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Oman, Maldives, Mauritius, South Africa, Bangladesh, Brazil, Nigeria, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bolivia, UAE and several European jurisdictions.

2.3 Business Model Characteristics

• B2B contract model with banks, fintechs, NBFCs and central/state governments — long tenders, high compliance thresholds and multi-year renewals act as competitive moats
• Bundled cards + cheques + logistics offering — differentiating factor versus single-line competitors; banks prefer one-stop vendors for cost and coordination benefits
• Hub-and-spoke India footprint — two large manufacturing hubs in Manipal, Karnataka feeding 14 personalization bureaus across Manipal, Chennai, Noida, Navi Mumbai for last-mile turnaround
• International model — either supplies base cards + machines + software with local partner personalization (Nepal, Sri Lanka model) or direct export to bank clients
• Recurring revenue element — payment cards have expiry dates driving reissuance cycles; renewals and replacements form a structural pillar of demand

2.4 Client Vintage & Concentration

Long-tenured customer relationships are the defining strength: in Fiscal 2026, 211 customers (61.34% of the base) had been with the Company for more than five years, contributing 72.70% of revenue from operations (₹964.50 Cr). Vintage relationships include State Bank of India, Canara Bank, Bank of India and Indian Bank (all 15+ years), and private banks such as HDFC, ICICI, Axis, Kotak Mahindra, Federal Bank and City Union Bank. However, customer concentration remains material — the top 10 customers contributed 58.67% of revenue in FY26 (₹778.35 Cr), and the top 5 contributed 38.58% (₹511.85 Cr).

2.5 Supplier Dependency

The top 10 suppliers accounted for 56.05% of total purchases in Fiscal 2026 (₹313.78 Cr worth), and the Company sources significant portions of raw materials internationally — imported raw materials were 49.56%, 43.70% and 51.70% of total purchases in FY26, FY25 and FY24 respectively. Key imported inputs include PVC, banking chip modules (China, Singapore, Europe), magstripes (Germany), holograms (Europe, UK), copper (China), ink (UK, Japan) and steel.

2.6 Operating Metrics

3. Products and Service Portfolio

3.1 Payment Cards — The Flagship

Payment cards represent the anchor product line. The offering spans an exceptionally broad range of card variants:

1. PVC cards — the base offering
2. Metal cards — premium segment; patented manufacturing process in India; capacity of 0.16 million cards per quarter as of March 31, 2026; supplying top four credit card issuers in India
3. rPVC cards — launched India's first recyclable PVC Rupay card in 2024; supplied to SBI Cards and Airtel Payments Bank on Mastercard and RuPay networks
4. Dual Interface (DI) cards — contactless smart cards; largest manufacturer of DI cards in India in FY26
5. NCMC-compliant cards — one of the few manufacturers of National Common Mobility Cards in India
6. Speciality/aesthetic variants: colour core cards, 'touch n feel' cards, holographic cards, embossed cards, clear cards, gilded-edge cards, metallic foil-stamped cards, LED cards, image cards, wood cards
7. Biometric cards — capability build-out in progress

3.2 Personalization & Instant Issuance

The Company offers both centralized issuance and instant in-branch issuance solutions. It has deployed India's largest-scale instant issuance kiosk solution, rolling out over 500 kiosks simultaneously for State Bank of India. The instant issuance ecosystem includes 'account opening kiosks', 'card printing kiosks' and 'passbook printing kiosks' — all integrated through the Company's proprietary platform on the bank's central network.

3.3 Identification Solutions

• National identity cards: 1+ billion cards billed across 12 regional languages (largest producer in India as of March 31, 2026)
• Driving licenses & Registration Certificates: pioneered polycarbonate-based DL cards using specialised ink in India, in compliance with MORTH guidelines; active projects with transport authorities in Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh
• RTO management: deployed 254+ personnel managing around 88 RTOs across three states as of March 31, 2026
• Transit management solutions: integrated 8-device + software suite

3.4 Cheque Solutions & VDP Business

Consolidated pursuant to the acquisition of MTL's Variable Data Printing (VDP) business (effective March 31, 2024). All VDP facilities are Indian Bankers Association (IBA) certified. Offerings include cheque printing, personalized statements, government identification documents, insurance policy booklets and secure logistics.

3.5 Smart Tagging & IoT (Revenue Assurance Acquisition)

Consolidated via the Revenue Assurance Acquisition from MTL (effective April 1, 2025). Product suite:

• Excise labels with holograms and encrypted QR codes for state excise departments
• Track-and-trace solutions using RFID tags
• Secure holograms, VVPAT rolls, event tickets and other security-printed products
• MPi TracLogix — proprietary logistics management platform with real-time shipment tracking via API integrations

3.6 Wearables / Alternative Form Factors

Chip-embedding services for watches, silicon bands, keyrings, key fobs, ceramic rings and NFC-enabled QR stickers for contactless payment.

3.7 Capacity & Utilisation

Per KPI disclosure:

• Cheque leaf printing capacity utilisation: 32.19% (FY26), 34.63% (FY25), 44.39% (FY24) — decline in FY26 attributed to non-renewal of certain contracts
• Secure solutions (off-set printing) utilisation: 36.73% (FY26), 38.51% (FY25), 54.52% (FY24)

Utilisation gaps flag both a risk (under-utilisation risk called out in RHP) and a runway for margin expansion as contracts refill.

3.8 Certifications

ISO 27001:2022, ISO 14001:2015, ISO 9001:2015 certifications; certified by Mastercard, RuPay and other payment networks for chip-embedded and DI card manufacturing/personalization. Certifications have been renewed without interruption and no security breaches have been reported in the past three Fiscals.

4. Key Business Strengths

• Market leadership at scale: Estimated ~36.4% credit card and ~30.9% debit card issuance market share in India (FY26); ranked highest in India and 14th globally in payment card shipments in 2023.
• Patented metal card capability: One of the leading metal card manufacturers in India holding a patent for metal card manufacturing; supplying to the top four credit card issuers in India.
• Deeply-embedded customer relationships: 211 customers (61.34% of base) with >5-year relationships in FY26, generating 72.70% of revenue; PSB relationships spanning 15+ years with SBI, Canara, BoI and Indian Bank.
• Bundled multi-product proposition: Combined cards + cheques + secure logistics offering is a structural differentiator; single-line competitors cannot match it — banks increasingly favour bundle vendors for cost and vendor-management efficiencies.
• Hub-and-spoke last-mile network: Two card manufacturing hubs feeding 14 personalization bureaus enable proximity-based rapid turnaround; new customer additions typically leverage this footprint.
• Government mandate depth: Selected for 17 central/state government projects in the last three Fiscals with tenures of 1–10 years; qualifies for identity, RTO and NCMC-linked mandates that carry high entry barriers.
• Highest tier of security & compliance certifications: Uninterrupted renewals across ISO 27001/14001/9001 stack, Mastercard/RuPay certifications, and periodic customer audits — form an entry moat.
• Backing of The Manipal Group: Access to shared R&D, IT infrastructure, senior management continuity averaging 15–30 years within the Group; group heritage spanning 75+ years in secure printing.
• Robust and improving margin profile: EBITDA margin expanded from 28.04% in FY24 to 33.60% in FY26; PAT margin at 18.68% in FY26; ROE of 29.35% and ROCE of 32.69%.
• Strong operational balance sheet: Debentures worth ₹250 Cr repaid in FY26 taking total borrowings to a nominal ₹0.42 Cr as of March 31, 2026 (down from ₹472.87 Cr in FY25); Net Worth of ₹791.90 Cr.

5. Future Growth Strategy

• Global payment cards footprint expansion: Scale up international revenues (currently 7.21% of revenue, up from 1.41% in FY24); on-ground sales presence already in 14+ jurisdictions including UK, USA, UAE, Singapore, Turkey and Nigeria; subsidiaries in USA, UK, UAE and Nigeria.
• Metal cards portfolio expansion: Ride the projected 47.6% CAGR of the Indian metal cards market (FY26–FY30); expand from current 0.16 million cards/quarter capacity; leverage patent advantage and 'Make in India' preference for PSB supply; already supplying metal cards for UAE local payment networks.
• Indian market consolidation via bundled offerings: Deepen the cards + cheques + logistics bundle proposition; establish additional personalization bureaus to improve turnaround; add variants including LED, wood and biometric cards.
• Diversify government identity solutions in India & overseas: Capitalise on MORTH's polycarbonate ID card mandate; extend Maharashtra/Chhattisgarh RTO model to other states; participate in overseas identity projects including e-passports, national IDs, social security cards; e-passport market projected to grow significantly in India and globally.
• Expand tax stamps solutions: Move beyond current liquor-industry focus to tobacco (post-GST Council new codes), pharmaceuticals, and pan masala under the new unique-code rules; extend to international jurisdictions.
• Capacity augmentation for card-issuance demand: Indian payment cards market projected to grow from ₹28,499 million (2025) to ₹60,542 million by 2030 at a 20.7% CAGR; capex of ₹238.43 Cr from IPO Net Proceeds earmarked for capacity expansion across facilities in Manipal, Chennai, Noida, Navi Mumbai, Howrah and Chhattisgarh.
• In-house applet stack expansion: RuPay chip DI applet already approved; plans to develop similar in-house payment applets for other jurisdictions — reduces dependency on third-party solutions and improves margin profile.
• Selective inorganic growth: Continue an active M&A stance following successful integration of MTL's VDP (April 2024) and Smart Tagging/IoT businesses (April 2025); focus areas include consolidation in existing verticals, operating leverage in key markets, portfolio expansion and geographic entry.
• Wearables and alternative form factor expansion: Leverage existing chip-embedding experience into new payment-enabled form factors as consumer adoption of NFC wearables expands.