Electronic payments and banking solutions provider ACI Worldwide Inc. has invested an undisclosed sum in Mumbai-based Mindgate Solutions Pvt. Ltd to deliver an end-to-end payments solution for various businesses, the US-headquartered company said in a statement on Monday.
The joint payment service will involve ACI using its universal payments software while Mindgate, which processes Unified Payments Interface (UPI) transactions, will provide a digital overlay for those services. The end product will be offered to entities such as banks, financial intermediaries and merchants through either an on-premise or cloud-based model, the statement said, adding that the investment will also help Mindgate expand its presence globally.
Mindgate co-founder and business head George Sam said that the investment would help in providing clients with a scalable product that will “fully capitalise on UPI's extraordinary growth”. ACI Worldwide president and chief executive officer Phil Heasley said the investment ensured that both companies were well-positioned to take advantage of the opportunities in the global real-time and digital payments industry.
Founded in 2008, Mindgate processes nearly 30 million digital transactions globally every day, with around 70% of UPI transactions being routed through banks serviced by it, according to the statement. The Mumbai-based company employs more than 550 people and says it has regional centres in Singapore, Dubai and San Francisco.
Florida-based ACI, founded in 1975, has offices in 39 countries and has over 3,800 employees. The company says that eight out of 10 India’s largest banks are utilising its solutions for their payments needs, totalling 60% of the country’s digital payments transactions.
The investment in Mindgate marks the latest deal in the growing UPI-based electronic payments space. Both domestic and international companies have made moves to grab a share of the growing mobile payments pie in the country. In December 2017, a report by market research firm International Data Corporation said that digital payments in the country will overtake cash and non-digital payments by 2022.
In April, BharatPe, which services offline retailers and businesses, raised $15.5 million (around Rs 107 crore then) in a Series A round of funding. US-based investment firm Insight Partners joined existing investors Sequoia Capital and Beenext in the round.
Other companies which have made investments in this sector include One97 Communications Limited-operated Paytm, Walmart-owned Flipkart’s PhonePe and Facebook-operated WhatsApp.
