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Fintech services platform Razorpay on Thursday announced it has acquired offline payments services provider <keyword id="6519244" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="ezetap" source="Orion">Ezetap</keyword>, becoming one of the few companies globally with a significant online and offline presence in payments. According to sources, the deal size is around $150-200 million. This marks Razorpay's sixth and biggest acquisition to date. The <keyword id="14747570" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="ezetap-team" source="Orion">Ezetap Team</keyword> of around 300 employees will join Razorpay and work as an independent business unit. "We believe that the businesses of tomorrow will not distinguish between physical and digital channels and will expect a unified payment experience through a single integrated platform," said Harshil Mathur, CEO and Co-founder, Razorpay. Ezetap provides software for financial technologies, including point of sales (POS) solutions, billing, loyalty solutions among others, enablingAbusinesses to accept payments in-store and on-delivery. It currently serves over 500,000 touchpoints, including <keyword id="18635" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="amazon" source="Orion">Amazon</keyword> and BigBasket, and works closely with banks like <keyword id="13222" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="sbi" source="Orion">SBI</keyword>, <keyword id="45123" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="hdfc" source="Orion">HDFC</keyword>, ICICI and Axis, among others, processing over $10 billion in annual transactions on its platform. "We join Razorpay's suite of products to collectively offer businesses the best-in-class omni-channel payments experience and are excited at the limitless possibilities that together both the companies are looking to explore in the omnichannel payment world," said Byas Nambisan, CEO of Ezetap. Prior to this, Razorpay acquired fintech startup IZealiant Technologies, Malaysia-based Curlec, TERA Finlabs, Opfin and Thirdwatch. With a $80 billion total payment value (TPV) as of April, Razorpay is eyeing a 10-12 million merchant base by next year. SEE ALSO : <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/news/rbi-tightens-norms-for-chinese-lending-apps/articleshow/93629917.cms">RBI tightens norms for Chinese lending apps</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/sustainability/news/genzs-millennials-are-turning-to-thrift-stores-to-upgrade-their-wardrobe-while-saving-the-environment/articleshow/93619737.cms">GenZs, millennials are turning to thrift stores to upgrade their wardrobe while saving the environment</a>

Fintech services platform Razorpay acquires offline payments firm Ezetap

There is a new industry that is rising with the motive of making banking easier for customers, and to top it all, it’s still away from regulators. The financial technology sector, or <keyword id="2461546" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="FinTech">fintech</keyword> as it is christened by users, is attracting talented individuals from all the industries. 
 
It was last week that Flipkart hired for two high-profile jobs in the fintech business, following Paytm, which had roped in PwC's <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Shinjini-Kumar-to-head-Paytm-payments-bank/articleshow/51056601.cms">Shinjini Kumar</a> to be the CEO of its <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/IT-giants-like-Infosys-TCS-want-to-pull-off-a-deal-worth-Rs-125-crore-with-Paytm-for-its-payments-bank/articleshow/51102984.cms">payments bank</a> that is yet to be launched. Not only this, Krishna Hegde, Barclays’ top executive, and Vipin Surelia, former DGM at RBI, were also hired. 
 
Fintech, the umbrella term, covers technology-based companies operating in insurance, payment, and asset management, etc. It is already transforming banking business, challenging mammoth banks, which is why headhunters are observing talents moving towards it. 
 
"Finance technology is a booming segment in India with the opening of numerous mobile wallet companies, non-banking financing companies and now payments banks - all running on robust digital platforms," said AG Rao, group managing director of ManpowerGroup India. Being relatively new, the segment is already generating a lot of new jobs, with most of them clustered around mobile, user experience and financial analysis. 
 
More than 117 million Indians use smartphones and over 160 million of us are connected to the Internet, which is why a large number of companies are coming up with products that can assist their customers. Financial sector is not far behind in this, as technology is developing at a rate alarming for traditional banking. 
 These low-cost, high-tech technology models deal with low-value, high-volume financial customers, which is why companies like <keyword id="143842" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mobikwik">Mobikwik</keyword>, <keyword id="2461194" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Capital-Float">Capital Float</keyword>, <keyword id="1745661" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Mswipe">MSwipe</keyword>, <keyword id="6580234" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="CITRUS-PAY">Citrus Pay</keyword> and <keyword id="6519244" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Ezetap">Ezetap</keyword> have raised more than $150 million in India. 
 
"Considering this is a newly evolved industry, it will see at least a 20% increase in hiring due to new e-wallets and payments banks. It will be due to large scale of business (ecommerce) and financials going online," Ajay Shah, assistant vice president at Teamlease Services, told ET. 
 
Talking about the future of fintech in India, it is as of now synonymous with just payment technology; however, globally speaking, there are 11 lending fintech unicorns. Nonetheless, the sector is expected to spread its wings in India, covering hitherto untapped areas such as lending and personal finance. 
 
<a href="http://hollandfintech.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/fintech-apps.jpg">Image source</a>

Fintech sector spreading its wings in India, attracting talents from across industries

<ul><li>During the FIFA World Cup final, the number of hourly food transactions increased to 1.7x the average. </li><li>Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Pathaan resulted in a significant 70% increase in multiplex transactions compared to the daily average. </li><li>Expenditures on flight tickets increased by 83%, while expenses on hotel accommodations almost doubled in value. </li></ul>It was the day of the FIFA World Cup final between Lionel Messi’s Argentina and France on December 18, 2022. The nail-biting match sent many nervous Indians scurrying to order food online. That day, between 8.30 PM IST to midnight, the number of hourly food transactions increased to 1.7 times the average — making it the fourth-busiest Sunday of FY23, according to a report released by Razorpay. The payment solutions provider Razorpay analysed over a billion transactions processed on its platform between April 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023 to find out how, when and what Indians spend on. The Khan-Kohli effect Matches, however, don’t always bring in the moolah. On October 23, 2022, Virat Kohli entered the Adelaide cricket ground and astounded the audience with his exceptional performance between 3.30 PM and 5.15 PM IST — a match that propelled India to the semi finals of the T20 World Cup. That day, as India held its breath, the total value of <keyword id="694150" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="online-payments" source="Orion">online payments</keyword> during the match fell by almost 40% as compared to the hours preceding the match. Alongwith cricket, cinema has always had the biggest influence on Indians. When Shah Rukh Khan’s much-awaited movie Pathaan was released, a large number of moviegoers left their OTT and other screens at home to get back to the silver screens. The movie grossed over ₹1,000 crore worldwide, helping multiplex transactions rise by a significant 70% as compared to the daily average. Says Rahul Kothari, chief business officer, Razorpay, "FY23 has been a year of hope, resilience, and rejuvenation for India, with a sharp growth in transactions across sectors as people rekindled old-forgotten joys of life. It also showed how Indians have embraced the digital age and how they are using new payment technologies to connect, collaborate, and transact.” Back to office, bad for broadband India's corporate sector was evidently spending more time outdoors, with co-working spaces experiencing a staggering 245% surge in transactions, and the number of payments made for cab services increasing sevenfold. However, the most significant change observed was that broadband expenditures decreased by nearly 80%. According to transactions processed on Razorpay's offline payments platform, Ezetap, spending on dining-out has increased by 2.5 times in FY23, and transaction volumes have surged 162% compared to the previous fiscal year. Offline shopping, online spending Indian consumers have returned to physical stores and have shopped extensively. According to transactions processed on Razorpay's offline payments platform, Ezetap, in-store payments have increased by 88% in value, and transactions have more than doubled in most major cities. Spending on apparel (127%), jewellery (88%), electronics (60%), and groceries (46%) have seen significant growth. The top five cities that experienced a steep increase in in-store payment volumes are Gurugram (160.93%), Pune (153.7%), Bengaluru (145%), Chennai (107.8%), and Kolkata (106%). The <keyword id="9771276" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="revenge-travel" source="Orion">revenge travel</keyword> trend also found its way to online transactions. Expenditures on flight tickets increased by 83%, while expenses on hotel accommodations almost doubled in value. Online travel aggregators witnessed a substantial 224% surge in transaction value.

Shah Rukh Khan, Messi, Kohli & how they influenced India’s online payment trends

Almost one in five of India’s future unicorns drop off the race as funding winter bites

<ul><li><keyword id="790242" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="WhatsApp">WhatsApp</keyword> has appointed <keyword id="1622253" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Abhijit-Bose">Abhijit Bose</keyword> as the country head for India. </li><li>His experience as the co-founder of Ezetap, a local digital payments application, should help work WhatsApp with the launch of its own payments platform. </li><li>The Facebook-owned messaging platform has also been facing issues of data localisation and widespread <keyword id="2479020" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Fake-news">fake news</keyword> that need to be addressed. </li></ul>The <a href="http://whatsapp">constant pressure</a> from the Indian government over the circulation of misinformation and fake news on Whatsapp seems to have yielded results with the Facebook-owned messaging app <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/whatsapp-names-ezetap-co-founder-abhijit-bose-as-india-country-head-amid-government-pressure-to-fight-fake-news/articleshow/66744376.cms">appointing</a> Abhijit Bose as the country head for India. This will be the first WhatsApp team to establish their base outside the US. According to the company’s press statement, “Bose and his team will focus on helping businesses, both large and small, connect with their customers.” Lobbying for improvement The appointment of a country head for India comes at a time when WhatsApp is planning a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/beta-no-more-whatsapp-isnt-slowing-down-even-without-an-office/articleshow/65226054.cms">full roll out</a> of their payment platform after its beta version disrupted the sector for local players like PayTM. As Bose’s previous role was co-founder of Ezetap, a digital payments solution for rural households where smartphones could be turned in to point-of-sale (PoS) devices, his experience should contribute significantly towards pushing Whatsapp own platform forward. Unfortunately, WhatsApp has faced hurdles with respect to regulatory and bureaucratic red-tape in lieu of Facebook’s problems with privacy and security. Competing players like Google and Truecaller have already launched their digital wallets without any significant issues. In addition to that, India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), hasn’t been too pleased with the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/whatsapp-gives-in-to-indias-data-localisation-policy/articleshow/66135946.cms">efforts</a> made by the messaging application to adhere to India’s new data localisation norms. According to them, WhatsApp was only mirroring the data from payments in India rather than keeping the data exclusively within India’s geographical boundaries. Since then, the company has set up the infrastructure for storing data locally and is now compliant with Indian data regulations. As Bose will be based in the country, he will be able to function has the conduit between WhatsApp’s requirements and India’s governments needs to reach amicable solutions that work for both parties. Even his experience at Intuit’s small and medium (SME) division will likely be useful for the messaging application with their plans of rolling out a business focused platform. WhatsApp Business is already available in PlayStore and the company has plans to launch something for merchants as well. The issue of fake news Over the past year, the incidents of <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/whatsapp-horrified-by-mob-lynches-in-india-will-address-specific-issues/articleshow/64855592.cms">lynching</a> propagated by fake news in India have led to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/what-india-needs-from-whatsapp-might-not-be-so-easily-attainable/articleshow/65497255.cms">widespread conversation</a> about being able to track messages back to their original sender. WhatsApp has maintained that such a measure is impossible to implement because it would violate user privacy in lieu of their end-to-end encryption. More recent reports of fake news being tailored to favour certain political parties ahead of 2019 general elections is especially troubling. Out of the 1.5 billion monthly active WhatsApp users, <a href="https://www.financialexpress.com/industry/technology/whatsapp-now-has-1-5-billion-monthly-active-users-200-million-users-in-india/1044468/">200 million users</a> are from India. While the company has tried to push for awareness through <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/whatsapp-takes-to-print-ads-to-curb-fake-news-in-india/articleshow/64934810.cms">full-page ads</a> in the newspaper and public service announcements <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/whatsapp-has-a-new-radio-campaign-to-counter-fake-news-in-india/articleshow/65606213.cms">over the radio</a>, the effectiveness of their impetus on digital literacy hasn’t brought about any dramatic changes. Earlier this year, WhatsApp <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/whatsapps-appointment-of-a-grievance-officer-for-india-may-only-be-a-cosmetic-move/articleshow/65945991.cms">appointed</a> Komal Lahiri as the grievance officer for India but the government contested that it wasn’t good enough since she was based out of the US. Bose, on the other hand, will be based out of India and available for direct interaction when legal or monetary issues arise. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/indian-government-wants-to-tap-into-your-whatsapp-messages-other-social-media/articleshow/64979461.cms">Indian government wants to tap into your WhatsApp messages, other social media</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/whatsapp-horrified-by-mob-lynches-in-india-will-address-specific-issues/articleshow/64855592.cms">WhatsApp 'horrified' by mob lynches in India, will address 'specific issues'</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/what-india-needs-from-whatsapp-might-not-be-so-easily-attainable/articleshow/65497255.cms">What India needs from WhatsApp might not be so easily attainable</a>

Here's what WhatsApp India head will take on as it sets out to establish its first full country team

<ul><li>Letters have been issued to <keyword id="6355629" type="DEFINITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="google">Google</keyword> and <keyword id="790242" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="WhatsApp">Whatsapp</keyword> by the National Payments Corporation of <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword> (NPCI) to clarify their plans to store payments data locally. </li><li>The government is concerned is that while these companies may be storing Indian users’ data locally, it’s being mirrored abroad. </li><li>India’s directive on <keyword id="6441632" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Data-localisation">data localisation</keyword> requires data of local users be stored ‘exclusively’ in the country.</li></ul>The deadline imposed by India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, to store all of Indian users’ data exclusively within the country was October 15, but technology giants like Google and Whatsapp are yet to fully comply with the directive. Officials told the <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/internet/google-whatsapp-told-to-clear-air-on-data-storage/articleshow/66874386.cms">Economic Times</a> that the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) has sent letters to both companies. NPCI, the organisation responsible for all retail payments in the country, is asking Google and Whatsapp to clarify their plans on how they’re storing the data of Indian users from their respective payments platforms within India. The agency’s concern is that while these companies have started storing their data in India, they’re also keeping copies of the data abroad, which violates the rule that data should be ‘exclusively’ stored within the country’s borders. The need for a level playing field Local players in the Indian payments market like Paytm <a href="https://www.medianama.com/2018/09/223-paytm-data-localisation/">say</a> that the move to localise Indian data will benefit startups as well as allay the privacy concerns of citizens through a strong consumer data protection framework. PhonePe, another Indian payments company, has <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/startups/newsbuzz/phonepe-cheers-rbi-diktat-on-data-localisation/articleshow/65791504.cms">alleged</a> that global firms have been trying to evade taxes by keeping their data servers outside India. It claims the move is a requisite for the nation’s ‘safety and security’ as well as for the creation of ‘national wealth’. Whatsapp’s hurdles While Whatsapp was the first global company to <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/whatsapp-gives-in-to-indias-data-localisation-policy/articleshow/66135946.cms">announce</a> that it would comply with India’s payments data localisation demand, it has faced its fair share of hurdles. Other companies like MasterCard, Visa, PayPal, Amazon, Google and Facebook were <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/google-pay-accused-of-data-payments-violations-by-paytm-in-a-letter-to-the-npci/articleshow/65897649.cms">still seeking</a> extensions at the time of the imposed deadline. Whatsapp’s <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/beta-no-more-whatsapp-isnt-slowing-down-even-without-an-office/articleshow/65226054.cms">plans</a> to roll out its own payments platform have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/what-india-needs-from-whatsapp-might-not-be-so-easily-attainable/articleshow/65497255.cms">faced obstacles</a> after its parent company, Facebook, got embroiled in the Cambridge Analytica’s data breach debacle and the spread of fake news was thought be propagated through its messaging app. The company is yet to fully roll out their payments service, but nearly one million people are already testing <keyword id="4685737" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="WhatsApp-payments">Whatsapp Payments</keyword> in India, according to the company. The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/heres-what-whatsapp-india-head-will-take-on-as-it-sets-out-to-establish-its-first-full-country-team/articleshow/66751310.cms">recent appointment</a> of Abhijit Bose as the country head, whose previous role was co-founder of Ezetap — a digital payments product for rural households where smartphones could be turned in to point-of-sale devices — is meant to help with the platform’s full roll out. See also: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/heres-what-whatsapp-india-head-will-take-on-as-it-sets-out-to-establish-its-first-full-country-team/articleshow/66751310.cms">Here's what WhatsApp India head will take on as it sets out to establish its first full country team</a> <a href="http://.">WhatsApp gives in to India’s data localisation policy</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/whatsapps-appointment-of-a-grievance-officer-for-india-may-only-be-a-cosmetic-move/articleshow/65945991.cms">WhatsApp’s appointment of a grievance officer for India may only be a 'cosmetic move'</a>

Whatsapp, Google yet to fully comply with India’s data localisation norms despite repeated inquiries from the government

<ul><li>Chris Daniels, the CEO of <keyword id="790242" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="WhatsApp">WhatsApp</keyword>, submitted a formal request to <keyword id="3658" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>’s central bank last month to allow the messaging platform to offer payment services to all its Indian users. </li><li>WhatsApp commenced the pilot phase of its Indian payments service earlier this year and currently offers the service to one million users. </li><li>India’s <keyword id="6358577" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="digital-payments">digital payments</keyword> space is a rapidly expanding market and is expected to total $1 trillion by 2023, according to Credit Suisse. </li></ul> The wait for WhatsApp’s full-fledged digital payments licence in India continues. Chris Daniels, the CEO of WhatsApp, submitted a formal request to India’s central bank last month to allow the messaging platform to offer payment services to all its Indian users, according to the Press Trust of India. WhatsApp commenced the pilot phase of its Indian payments service <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/whatsapp-rushing-to-launch-its-payments-feature-in-india-next-week/articleshow/64386826.cms">earlier this year</a>. It currently offers the service, which is compliant with the government’s <keyword id="2736678" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Unified-payments-interface">Unified Payments Interface</keyword> (UPI), to one million users. Once it receives approval from the Reserve Bank of India, it will expand access to the service to all 200 million of its Indian users. The impetus behind the move is to make the transfer of cash as easy as sending a message. In the letter, Daniels said that WhatsApp and its banking partners had fulfilled all the security requirements for its payments service. New leader, large checklist WhatsApp recently hired its first Indian head of operations, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/heres-what-whatsapp-india-head-will-take-on-as-it-sets-out-to-establish-its-first-full-country-team/articleshow/66751310.cms">Abhijit Bose</a>, from the payments industry following instructions from the Indian government to set up <a href="https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/whatsapp-payments-hits-new-hurdle-govt-asks-comp-to-set-up-office-in-india-118080100128_1.html">a local office for its Indian operations</a>. Bose, who is the co-founder of point-of-sales mobile payment service EzeTap, has his work cut out for him in the next few months. The Indian government has mandated the local storage of citizens’ data, a condition that WhatsApp is in the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/whatsapp-gives-in-to-indias-data-localisation-policy/articleshow/66135946.cms">process of complying with</a>. In addition to data storage norms, WhatsApp will also have to weather a hit to its reputation in India following revelations that the service has been used to spread fake news resulting in mob-facilitated violence. This entails a comprehensive strategy to fight the spread of misinformation on its platform. Quick fixes that the service has implemented include the identification of all message forwards and limiting the ability to forward a message to more than five people at once. Enough pie to go around? India’s digital payments space is a burgeoning market and everyone wants a bigger slice of the growing pie, which Credit Suisse estimates will <a href="http://www.pib.nic.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1540879">total $1 trillion by 2023</a>. At the end of September, Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway invested <a href="https://www.livemint.com/Companies/IzWIIJDec1NieTWjRZPPSL/Paytm-raises-300-million-from-Berkshire-Hathaway.html">$300 million</a> in market leader Paytm. That was roughly a month after Amazon bolstered its own payments business in India with the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/amazon-india-is-buying-tapzo-to-ramp-up-its-digital-payments-business/articleshow/65593792.cms">acquisition of Tapzo</a>. Meanwhile, Google, which launched its UPI-based Tez payment service (now Google Pay) a year ago, is planning an expansion into <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2018/08/28/google-is-supercharging-its-tez-payment-service/">the retail and microfinance space</a>. The entry of Whatsapp into the Indian digital payments market is bound to scare incumbents like Paytm and Google Pay. The service is the preferred messaging platform for most Indians with smartphones and hence, its payments service should have no difficulty gaining traction with individuals and small businesses. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/whatsapp-gives-in-to-indias-data-localisation-policy/articleshow/66135946.cms">WhatsApp gives in to India’s data localisation policy</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india-plans-on-handing-over-the-reins-of-data-privacy-to-the-telecom-industry-watchdog/articleshow/66416519.cms">India plans on handing over the reins of data privacy to the telecom industry watchdog</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/whatsapp-rushing-to-launch-its-payments-feature-in-india-next-week/articleshow/64386826.cms">WhatsApp rushing to launch its payments feature in India next week</a>

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Fintech services platform Razorpay acquires offline payments firm Ezetap

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