Axis Bank has entered into an agreement with Jasper Infotech Private Limited to acquire 100 per cent stake in its subsidiaries like FreeCharge Payment Technologies Private Limited and Accelyst Solutions Private Limited, which together constitute the digital payments business under the "FreeCharge" brand, a company statement said on Thursday.
Axis Bank is India’s third largest private sector bank and the deal marks the first such acquisition of a digital payments company by a bank in India.
"The acquisition of FreeCharge re-affirms Axis Bank's determination to lead the journey of digitization of financial services. We expect FreeCharge to contribute significantly in our aspiration to serve the digital native and mobile-first young consumers of India," said Shikha Sharma, MD & CEO of Axis Bank.
The statement, however, did not mention any acquisition size.
"The Axis FreeCharge combination is a potent one that has the potential to make a large impact on the digital payments and banking space. It is a win-win deal that allows Snapdeal to further focus on our core e-commerce business, while giving Axis some of the most agile and innovative technology capabilities in the financial services space in India," said Kunal Bahl, Snapdeal Co-Founder & CEO.
E-commerce marketplace Snapdeal had acquired FreeCharge in 2015.
Reacting to the development, Jason Kothari, Interim CEO of FreeCharge and Chief Strategy & Investment Officer of Snapdeal said, “We are happy that FreeCharge has a new strong owner in Axis Bank and will embark on a new journey with the Bank. The entrepreneurial team at FreeCharge brings with it immense technology and product expertise. I’m glad to have helped steer the company to this new home, and believe the synergies, catalysed by this acquisition, sets the stage for further innovation and accelerated adoption of digital payments solutions in India.”
FreeCharge is a pan-India digital payments company with over 50 million registered wallet users and over 200,000 merchants. FreeCharge wallet is used to make payments for telecom, DTH and broadband recharges and for utility payments including electricity, gas and water bills.
(With IANS inputs)