Axis Bank acquires Freecharge

Axis Bank has entered into an agreement with Jasper Infotech Pvt Ltd to acquire 100 per cent stake for $60 million (Rs 385 crore) in its subsidiaries, namely, FreeCharge Payment Technologies Pvt Ltd and Accelyst Solutions Pvt Ltd, which together constitute the digital payments business under the 'FreeCharge' brand. The transaction is expected to close by the end of September 2017 subject to regulatory approvals.

Shikha Sharma, Managing Director and chief executive of Axis Bank, added that the deal is key from a strategic perspective for the bank. While the bank is expecting regulatory clearance of the deal in two months, it might be looking to merge its wallet business with the latter. While adding to the conversation, Axis Bank’s chief financial officer Jairam Sridharan told the media that the acquisition might double their customer base of the bank leapfrogging its digital journey by years. Secondly, sources revels the leadership team of Axis Bank is committed to the digital payments space and is willing to invest significantly behind it.This is a big relief for Freecharge’s parent company and e-commerce marketplace, Snapdeal.

With this takeover now, Axis Bank is access to Freecharge’s 52 million mobile wallet holders, and it has opened up opportunities for cross-selling of the bank’s financial products on the platform. The sale of Freecharge to Axis Bank will provide Snapdeal the "necessary boost in resources" to continue its e-commerce journey and the entire staff will be absorbed and apart from this, Axis will also invest behind the brand and leverage the world class technology platform to the fullest," he added., Kunal Bahl , CEO,Snapdeal said.


Lastly, as the government pushes digital payments in a bid to move India towards a less-cash economy. While most banks have their own mobile banking apps, some have also tied up with operators of digital wallets to facilitate electronic payments.Banks have also invested in improving their back-end and front-end technology to provide quality payment services.the time will come soon, where the competition between fintech firms and large banks will increase on who is providing the best and secured technology .

Tags: Axis Bank acquires Freecharge, axis bank, freecharge, FreeCharge Payment Technologies, Jasper Infotech Pvt Ltd, Shikha Sharma axis bank, Kunal Bahl CEO Snapdeal