PayU India acquires mobile payments app Eashmart

http://www.vipspatel.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/PayU-acquires-Eashmart.jpg

Naspers-owned payment gateway company PayU India, which operates the online payments solution PayUMoney, has acquired mobile-based payment app Eashmart for an undisclosed amount, reports The Economic Times.

 

Following the acquisition, Eashmart’s five-member team is expected to join the app development team at PayUMoney. Merchants using Eashmart in Bangalore, Delhi and Jaipur will now transfer to PayUMoney, and will get access to PayUMoney’s merchant dashboard. When we checked, the Eashmart website was also redirecting to PayUMoney’s site.

Eashmart was launched in December 2013 by Amit Kumar. The Eashmart app allows customers to pay for anything using their credit/debit cards or through net banking without actually having to swipe the card. Also, merchants don’t need to invest on any new hardware to enable Eashmart-powered transactions, unlike portable swiping machines for which merchants need to pay a monthly fee to banks. The startup had received undisclosed amount of angel funding from CIIE, IIM Ahmedabad’s incubator, and two unnamed angel investors in January this year.

How it works: Users need to select the shop or merchant on the Eashmart app, enter the amount and make the payment. The user, the delivery person and the merchant all receive real-time confirmation of the payment. Essentially, Eashmart turns the user’s smartphone into a point of sale (PoS) payment device.

Competition

– Bangalore-based PoS startup Ezetap recently partnered with the State Bank of India to launch ‘Chota ATM’, a solution that can double as an ATM device as well as a PoS terminal that can accept payments from any debit and credit card. Earlier this year, SBI had selected Ezetap to deploy 500,000 PoS terminals over the next 5 years. In the same month Ezetap had acquired Hyderabad-based loyalty platform Clinknow that enabled merchants to create and offer real-time offers to customers based on their transaction history.

– Mobile wallet service providers like MobiKwik will also be competing with the Eashmart app. In June 2014, MobiKwik had integrated its mobile wallet into e-commerce portals like eBay and Nykaa. Mobikwik co-founder Bipin Preet Singh had also claimed that over 500 merchants, including Dominos, Pizza hut, and Aircel use its wallet.

 

PayU India acquires mobile payments app Eashmart, Technology newsTechnical, Technology, Technology Trends
PayU India acquires mobile payments app Eashmart