Australian buy now, pay later (BNPL) company Zip has invested $50m into Indian BNPL firm ZestMoney to expand its global grip on the payment market.
The investment comes amid forecasts that the huge nation will emerge to be the largest market globally for credit-on-tap over the next five years.
Launched in 2015, ZestMoney is a fast-growing BNPL platform in India that has over 11 million registered users and over 10,000 merchants as well as a point of presence in more than 75,000 physical stores.
The company claims its technology makes it accessible for millions to upgrade, enhance and rise while keeping it affordable. Users can repay through the service in either 30 days, 3 months or 4 months.
As part of the deal, Zip has negotiated terms to increase its shareholding, with a member of the Zip executive team over time taking a seat on the ZestMoney board. Zip investment is part of a wider $100m Series C funding raise for ZestMoney.
ZestMoney CEO and co-founder Lizzie Chapman said, ?The shift towards Pay Later solutions is a global phenomenon and represents young digital consumers looking for transparency, honesty and no hidden charges in financial products.
?We believe India will leapfrog traditional products like credit cards, along with many other emerging markets, going straight to digital payment solutions. We strongly believe India will emerge as the largest BNPL market in the world over the next 5 years.p>
This recent investment by Zip follows a strong year of acquisitions for the company. In September, Zip purchased South African BNPL Payflex, a firm that allows customers to spread their payments over six weeks at no additional cost.
Earlier this year, Zip acquired European BNPL provider Twisto and UAE-headquartered startup Spotii, allowing the company to secure a presence in the European and Middle Eastern markets.
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![Temenos (SIX: TEMN) today announced that National Bank of Iraq (NBI), part of the Capital Bank Group, has successfully gone live with Temenos core banking and payments. NBI, which has 27 branches across Iraq, offers a comprehensive range of services to individuals and businesses in the country. Since 2005, NBI has been majority owned by Capital Bank, one of the top financial institutions operating in the Jordanian and regional markets, with assets of approximately JOD 7.6 billion[1]. With this implementation, NBI moved from its legacy systems onto the same core banking platform as other entities in the Capital Bank Group. This will enable NBI to operate more efficiently and integrate seamlessly with other systems to develop new products faster and deliver an improved customer experience. Capital Bank Group is a long-standing Temenos customer with other entities in the Group including Capital Bank of Jordan, Bank Audi, Société Générale Bank Jordan and NBI Saudi Arabia, already on the Temenos platform. NBI also becomes the first part of the group to adopt Temenos Payments, which enabled the bank to process more than 100,000 transactions of incoming and outgoing domestic and international payments in the first 15 days of operation, with a 99% straight-through processing rate. The migration to the Temenos platform for core banking and payments at NBI was completed in under 12 months thanks to Temenos’ pre-configured banking and payments capabilities and APIs which reduced the need for complex customizations, as well as close collaboration between Temenos, NBI, Capital Bank and delivery partner ITSS. This success was recently recognized in the IBS Intelligence Innovation Awards, with Capital Bank winning ‘Best Implementation of Core Banking Services'. The implementation at NBI follows several other successful transformation projects with Temenos for Capital Bank in the last few years, including the launch of NBI’s branch operations in Saudi Arabia in just 45 days, as well as the integration of Bank Audi and the former Jordanian operations of Société Générale, each of which was achieved in under four months. Collectively, these projects helped Capital Bank to increase operational efficiency by more than 50% within three years, bringing significant cost savings and an improved customer experience. With faster, more accurate processing and immediate service requests, the bank has maintained high customer retention rates and a reputation for service excellence. Izzidin Abusalameh, Chief Operations Officer, Capital Bank Group, commented: “This achievement marks a significant milestone in our digital transformation journey and positions us as a leading player in the banking industry. We have seamlessly transitioned the National Bank of Iraq to a cutting-edge core banking system which will not only enhance operational efficiency but also support providing our customers with a superior digital banking experience. Our continued partnership with Temenos has not only provided us with an advanced technological platform but has also facilitated a culture of flexibility and adaptability, enabling us to execute our ambitious growth plans.” Lee Allcorn, Managing Director, Middle East & Africa, Temenos, said: “Congratulations to National Bank of Iraq and the Capital Bank team on this successful implementation that gives NBI business agility and the same modern technology platform and ability to deploy fast with pre-configured banking capabilities as the rest of the group. With Temenos, Capital Bank Group is future-ready, and we are proud to support them as they continue to innovate and leverage our platform to grow sustainably and enhance the banking experience for customers.”](https://fintech.global/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/rupixen-Q59HmzK38eQ-unsplash-2-100x70.jpg "Flutterwave teams up with Acquired.com to streamline outward remittances in EU and UK")
