Mastercard buys 12.5% stake in India’s ElectraCard

Mastercard has acquired 12.5 per cent stake in Pune-based third-party paymet services provider ElectraCard Services (ECS). However, financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

“The investment in ECS bolsters Mastercard’s overarching global processing strategy by further extending Mastercard’s product offerings and enhancing services across the full spectrum of the processing value chain,” the company said in a statement. Mastercard expects to increase global revenues by 13-14 per cent each year for the next few years, higher than the 9-10 per cent growth forecast for the payments industry, said Ajay Banga, president and CEO, Mastercard Worldwide.  “India is one of our fastest growing markets although it is not the fastest,” said Banga, during a press conference in Mumbai. “Europe is another region where we see good potential for growth.”

He said there was good potential for e-commerce in India although usage is low at present.