Major global payments players areracing into India to take up local companies to secure a piece of amarket with over 1 billion consumers, even though less than 15percent of them have a credit or debit card. India’s payment cardmarket is roughly 10 percent of the size of China’s by number ofcards, or 2 percent by purchase values. However, as foreigncompanies failed to crack the tightly-guarded China market, mosthave to focus their international expansion plans on Indiainstead.
On September 30, 2010, MasterCardannounced that it has acquired 12.5 percent stake in India’sthird-party payment service provider ElectraCard Services (ECS).India is one of MasterCard’s fastest growing markets, according toMasterCard’s president and CEO Ajay Banga. And, although usage islow at present, there is good potential for e-commerce in Indiaespecially mobile commerce, which could leapfrog over other formsof commerce in India, said Ajay.
The deal came roughly a month afterAtos Worldline acquired Venture Infotech, a leading paymentprocessor in India, for about $100 million. And earlier this year,First Data formed a JV with ICIBI Bank.