A lot is happening in the Indian digital payments industry, which is expected to touch $500 billion by 2020. Two of the players got fresh funding and another one is ready for the big leap.
Amazon pours Rs. 67 crore into its payments arm
US-based ecommerce major Amazon launched its closed digital wallet ‘Amazon Pay Balance’ in December last year. After getting license in March 2017 from RBI, the company re-launched its e-wallet as Amazon Pay, which is not limited to transactions on Amazon only.
To strengthen Amazon Pay, the etailer recently invested Rs. 67 crore (approximately $10.5 million). This funding comes at a time when the Indian ecommerce players are consolidating with each other to defeat the American giant.
The company’s plan is to compete with rival Paytm & Flipkart’s e-wallets, while reducing expenses and retaining customers. Amazon also wants to make its payments arm an independent profitable entity.
Jasper infuses Rs. 22 crore in on-sale Freecharge
It is common knowledge that Snapdeal’s payments arm Freecharge is up for grabs. It was reported earlier that industry player Mobikwik is all set to acquire its rival. But later it was reported that Alibaba-backed Paytm might be the suitable one.
In spite of it being on sale, Freecharge’s parent company Jasper Infotech poured Rs. 22 crore in it. The money may be just 1/3rd of what Amazon invested, but it would help Freecharge to get acquisition-ready.
In return of this investment, Jasper got 2.2-crore equity shares (worth Rs 10 each), as per the Registrar of Companies (ROC) filings.
Paytm payments bank launch scheduled for next week
Moving on from funding to expansion plans, Paytm is geared up to launch its payments bank on 23rd May 2017. Renu Satti, Vice President, Business at Paytm has been appointed as the CEO of its payments bank.
The company’s founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma shared the public notice announcement on his social media page.
The notice read,
“It is our pleasure to inform you that Paytm Payments Bank Limited has received the final license from the Reserve Bank of India and would commence its operations on 23 May, 2017. As per the directions of RBI, the company will be transferring its Wallet business to the newly incorporated Payments Bank entity, Paytm Payments Bank Limited, under a Payments Bank license awarded to a resident Indian, Vikay Shekhar Sharma.”
Existing Paytm wallet users have the choice to not move to Payments Bank Limited by or before 23 May. They can transfer the balance money into their bank accounts.
With Amazon, Freecharge and Paytm all ready to broaden horizons, we wonder who would lead the digital payments industry in India. As of now, it looks like Paytm will continue to be the leader, especially if it acquires Freecharge.
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