Tech giant Microsoft is reportedly looking to foray into lucrative Indian payment sector through a probable investment in the country’s digital payments firm Paytm.
Paytm has conducted negotiations with the American technology giant Microsoft to brace up for the rising competition in the digital payments segment, The Economic Times.
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Citing undisclosed sources, the publication reported that Paytm may raise approximately $100m in the proposed financing round.
“The talks with Microsoft began last year when Paytm was in the middle of raising funds. While Microsoft could not participate in the funding then, it is likely to pump in cash now,” the publication quoted a source familiar with the development as saying.
The proposed funding round will be an extension of a $1bn fundraising, which the company announced last year.
American investment firm T.Rowe Price invested $150m into Paytm in November last year at a valuation of $16bn.
The funding will help Paytm to brace up for competition from WhatsApp, which is set to roll out its payment services in India in partnership with telecom giant Reliance Jio.
In February this year, WhatsApp secured key regulatory approval to launch its payment services in India in phases.
Recently, Paytm has expanded its collaboration with ride-hailing company Uber to enable passengers to pay for their Uber ride using credit or debit cards via Paytm platform.
At the beginning of this year, Paytm introduced ‘All-in-One QR’ code for merchants to allow businesses to accept payments through Paytm Wallet, Rupay Cards and other UPI based payment apps.
