Square Gets Partnered; Shopify Acquires Handshake: News Roundup
PaymentFacilitator’s News Roundup is a curated mix of the past week’s news and articles from around the web, including company announcements, global payments news, and other coverage and analysis of topics relevant to payment facilitators.
The Digital Download
Digital gains street cred in Indonesia. East Ventures (an early-stage venture fund) is backing a project to digitize the country’s street vendors and, consequently, optimize their business. With this new model, orders will be made more efficiently via app interface and this will cut down on cost for the vendors. Funding will also be offered for those that would like to upsize their order but don’t necessarily have the money up front. From Techcrunch.
Indian government sets annual target for digital commerce. In an effort to maximize the digital momentum and hit their target of 40 billion e-transactions for fiscal year 2020, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has established fixed goals for the big digital brands. Some of the main players include State Bank of India at 7.7 billion e-transactions, Paytm at 5 billion and 5.3 billion combined for the leading private banks. From Business Today.
The Power of Two
Shopify acquires Handshake. A New York-based startup, Handshake offers a commerce platform for wholesale businesses. The acquisition was done off-radar though Shopify did confirm the deal – specifying that it supports their focus on “making commerce better for everyone.” From Techcrunch.
Money Matters
PhonePe targets $8 billion valuation. With approvals from parent company Flipkart, PhonePe is now paving the way for a solo fund-raise with a $1 billion goal. This would be the largest capital raise for the ecommerce company and as far as potential backers go, Tencent and Tiger Global (who also backed Flipkart) are top on the list. From ET India.
Industry News
Square: Square Selected as Payment Partner for 2019 Indianapolis 500 Concession Stands
Mint: Mint Launches Online Marketplace for Underserved Small Business Merchants
Wirecard: Wirecard Expands its Offering with Unified Commerce Solution for Small and Medium-Sized Merchants
Payrix: Payrix Grows Executive Team to Disrupt SaaS and Marketplace Payment Facilitation
Bill.com: Bill.com Launches Industry’s First AI-Enabled Business Payments Platform with End-to-End Workflow Automation
Wirecard: Wirecard Expands Digital Payment Services Within Nordic Retail Market with Multiple New Customers