BharatPe acquires PAYBACK India from American Express and ICICI

By Leandra Monteiro

BharatPe, an Indian financial services company for merchants, today announced the acquisition of PAYBACK India from American Express and ICICI Investments Strategic Fund, for an undisclosed amount. This is the first-ever acquisition by BharatPe and will make PAYBACK India, the country’s largest multi-brand loyalty program with 100 million+ members, a wholly-owned subsidiary of BharatPe.

With PAYBACK India, BharatPe will be able to enhance its value proposition for the merchant partners. Additionally, it will enable BharatPe to build a lucrative set of offerings for end customers, that will enhance footfalls at merchants and accelerate the growth of businesses. As a result of the acquisition, all PAYBACK India employees will become part of the BharatPe group. Suhail Sameer and Gautam Kaushik, Group Presidents, BharatPe along with Sumeet Singh, General Counsel, BharatPe, have joined the Board of PAYBACK India.

The company (PAYBACK India) will continue operating under its current name and there will be no impact on the existing customer and partner relationships with PAYBACK India. PAYBACK India will continue to roll out initiatives to offer value for all customers across India.

Speaking on the acquisition, Mr. Ashneer Grover, Co-Founder and CEO, BharatPe said, “Our products have always been designed to empower the businesses of millions of small merchants and kirana store owners in India. With the acquisition of PAYBACK India, we will be able to add a whole new dimension to our merchant value proposition. In addition to the range of payment and credit products which BharatPe offers to help merchants scale their business, we will also be able to drive more consumers to their stores. We are committed to build India’s largest and most engaged merchant network and this acquisition will be a game-changer in that regard. We are very selective about strategic partnerships & acquisitions, and belive this is a win-win to meet the brand promises of both BharatPe and PAYBACK India.”

Gautam Kaushik, Group President, BharatPe added, “Consumers today are very aware, and make their choice of purchase based on convenience and value. We aim to empower the offline merchants with the ability to offer additional rewards, coupons or cashbacks to customers, to drive sales and customer stickiness. PAYBACK is a pioneer in the loyalty programs and has a host of offerings to drive value to our merchants, as well as a very large customer base (100m+). We are excited to partner with the PAYBACK India team and jointly build a very compelling payment plus rewards franchise.”

“It was our top priority to ensure that for the members of the successful PAYBACK India program there would be no changes and that the great costumer experience would also be maintained: Users can collect points while shopping offline and online and benefit from exclusive offers in the usual way, now at even more merchants with BharatPe. We are convinced that the great PAYBACK value for customers is guaranteed sustainably and in the long term with BharatPe as the new operator,” shared Markus Knorr, CFO, PAYBACK Global.

PAYBACK India was launched in 2010 and claims to have a network of 100+ offline and online partners. It allows its customers to earn and redeem points on every transaction at its partner merchant outlets.