OMA Emirates acquires MobiSwipe

Mumbai: UAE-based payments solutions provider OMA Emirates has acquired MobiSwipe Technologies, a maker of portable card swipe machines that work with smartphones for small businesses.

The acquisition, which is for an undisclosed amount, comes close on the heels of the Ingenico, one of the world's largest card swipe machine manufactures, acquiring Techprocess, the owner of payment gateway Billdesk on February 1.

The electronic payments business has seen an increase in activity following demonetisation and the government's thrust of digital payments.

The card swipe machines that work with smartphones are termed mobile point of sale terminals (mPoS) and are low-cost options to the traditional swipe machines. The other mPoS providers in India are Ezetap, Mswipe, PayU and Paynear. The differentiator from regular card swipe machines is that mPoS terminals have no printer and instead of chargeslips a confirmation message is sent to the cardholders mobile phone.

"There is an increasing acceptance and growth of mPoS solution over the last few years with many of our customers having shown interest in the solution. Having acquired MobiSwipe we are now able to extend the mPoS offerings and we are confident of a larger portfolio. We see a huge potential in MobiSwipe not only in India but also beyond its boundaries," said Niranj Sangal, group CEO, OMA Emirates said.

"With the recent demonetisation announcement by the Government, India is swiftly moving towards a more cash free-payment environment. The mobile payment market is witnessing a surge and Mobiswipe's acquisition by OMA Emirates will definitely give it the right impetus of growth," added Suresh Santhanaramakrishnan, director and joint CEO, MobiSwipe Technologies.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.