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Ebix commences due diligence to acquire Yatra
Publication- The Economic Times
Edition- Online
Date- 20 March, 2019
US-based software firm Ebix Inc Tuesday said it has commenced due diligence for signing an agreement to acquire YatraOnline Inc, the parent company of online travel firm Yatra.com, by May 15. The company had earlier this month offered to acquire Yatra Online Inc for USD 336 million (over Rs 2,345 crore). Ebix Inc has "officially engaged with Yatra Online Inc to commence its due diligence immediately, with the goal of working towards signing the agreement to acquire Yatra Online latest by May 15, 2019," the company said in a statement.
The company intends to merge Yatra Online with its Indian subsidiary EbixCash. The offer is subject to due diligence and customary regulatory and other closing conditions, it added. EbixCash operation on a standalone basis is targeting quarterly annualised revenues of USD 600 million by the fourth quarter of 2019, the statement said.
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Industry News
Regulating payments: One too many voices
Publication- The Economic Times
Edition- Online
Date- 20 March, 2019
The fintech industry is probably getting more than what it had sought. This grouping, comprising largely of startups with less of capital but abundance of technology, might soon have to get used to stringent SOPs that list down at least 50 dos and don’ts. That’s what finance secretary Subhash Chandra Garg has in store for the industry. But the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is charting its own course. The central bank has hired the services of tech czar Nandan Nilekani to provide it the low-down on business models at these start-ups.
These moves and counter-moves by Mint Road and North Block come amid a battle over regulatory custody of the payments space, the transactional end of the money business the fintech industry wants to snatch from the established banking system. Recommendations of an Inter-Ministerial Committee for Finalisation of Amendments to the Payments and Settlements System Act argued in favour of an independent payments regulator, and that is at the heart of this tug-of-war between the two. Caught between an overenthusiastic government and a conservative banking regulator are the startups and consumer convenience.
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Xiaomi enters digital payments market, expands handset manufacturing
Publication- Business Standard
Edition- Online
Date- 20 March, 2019
Leading smartphone player Xiaomi has entered the fast-growing digital payments market with its Mi Pay service, the company announced on Tuesday. Primarily an UPI (Unified Payments Interface) —based mobile application, the Mi Pay service will be accessible to all MIUI — its mobile user interface — users in India.
The MIUI interface — spread across SMS, contacts, scanner, app vault, and settings in Xiaomi handsets — will also allow several utility payments ranging from phone bills, phone recharges, water or electricity bill payments through the payments service. The firm has partnered ICICI Bank as its payment service provider. Consumers can effectively make payments using UPI and other debit cards, credit cards and internet banking across 120 banks and over 120 billers, Xiaomi said.
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Google testing UPI to onboard offline retailers on Google Pay: report
Publication- Media Nama
Edition- Online
Date- 20 March, 2019
Google Pay is testing UPI based transactions with unspecified point-of-sale (POS) providers to onboard retail merchants, reports the Economic Times. Currently, Google is running small scale pilots with retail stores, to rollout over the next few months, and gain momentum in this market, the report added. Google did not specify which cities it is testing this in.
In August last year, Google Pay partnered with POS machine makers Pine Labs and BillDesk, to make Google Pay available in more physical stores. Then, it also offered an in-app process for applying for loans for users with partnered banks. In India, Google Pay launched in September 2017, and claims to have 12 million users, 25 million monthly active users and 1.2 million businesses.
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Shopify Falls as Instagram Checkout to Create Payments Pinch Publication- Bloomberg Quint
Edition- Online
Date- 20 March, 2019
Shopify Inc., the online platform for merchants, fell the most in two weeks after RBC said the company could be hurt by Facebook Inc.’s launch of Instagram Checkout, which allows consumers to pay for items without leaving the social platform. The new Instagram service could take market share from Ottawa-based Shopify, RBC analyst Ross MacMillan said.,
The new Instagram service could take market share from Ottawa-based Shopify, RBC analyst Ross MacMillan said. That’s because currently, merchants can link to their Shopify channel on Instagram, which brings customers to the site and generates payments revenue.
“Checkout on Instagram circumvents this and provides a new checkout mechanism for a brand separate from the Shopify platform,” MacMillan said in a research note on Tuesday, adding that Shopify’s gross payments volume from Instagram purchases are “very small today.”
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https://www.bloombergquint.com/business/shopify-falls-as-rbc-sees-payments-pinch-from-instagram-checkout#gs.1pn4dc