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Merchant payments and financial services provider BharatPe has announced the acquisition of multi-brand loyalty platform 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 programme 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 their businesses.

With this deal, 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.

Speaking on the acquisition, 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 payment and credit products that BharatPe offers to help merchants scale their business, we will also be able to drive more consumers to their stores. We are committed to building 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 and acquisitions, and believe this is a win-win to meet the brand promises of both BharatPe and PAYBACK India.”

The role of the senior leadership team at PAYBACK India will be expanded to also work on the loyalty programme for six million-plus merchants of BharatPe, the company stated.

The team, led by Pramod Mahanta and Rijish Raghavan, will be working closely with Gautam Kaushik, a renowned name in the financial services and loyalty industry in India, to build a new version of PAYBACK India.

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. It will continue to roll out initiatives to offer value for all customers across India.

Commenting on the new development, Markus Knorr, CFO, PAYBACK Global added, “It was our top priority to ensure that for the members of the successful PAYBACK India programme, there would be no changes, and that the great customer 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.“