Visa making a stand in India with BillDesk investment
Payments processor Visa is taking a minority stake in Indian payment gateway BillDesk, as it increases its footprint in India due to its fast-growing payments industry.
The terms of the deal were not disclosed, but local media reported a few months ago that Visa was looking to invest close to $250 million in BillDesk, valuing the company at around $1.5-$2 billion.
This deal will not have a direct bearing on Visa’s existing business, according to the firm.
Mumbai-based BillDesk processes over $60 billion of digital payments a year and provides customers payment options, including credit cards and online wallets, to carry out purchases.
Last week, India’s finance minister said that Visa and Mastercard were losing market share to domestic payment networks, as reported by Reuters.
This follows allegations by Mastercard that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was promoting a local rival, and that its protectionist measures were damaging competition.
