Net Element, a technology provider of mobile payments, has set up a joint venture targeting Gulf and India.
The mobile payments joint venture with 80:20 equity contributions is between the company and UAE-based industry professionals to sell and deliver Net Element’s payment-as-a-service solutions to all Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states and India.
Net Element will be the exclusive provider of payment services to the JV, which will have exclusive rights to sell Net Element’s services in the territory and market services under Net Element’s brand.
This year, the UAE is expected to become the first country in the world with a fully integrated digital payment platform supported by all banks operating in the country according to the Global Payments 2020: Transformation and Convergence report by BNY Mellon.
This report cites recent acceleration in India’s mobile payment growth bringing it even with China’s where 66 percent of its population used mobile payments recently to settle a transaction. Only 13 percent of France’s population was reported to have recently used mobile payments.
A mobile payments report by ResearchMoz said the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Cards and Payments Industry reported growth of UAE card payments from 10.3 million in 2009 to 18.2 million in 2013 with a compounded annual growth rate of 15.31 percent. The study projects that the card payments channel in the region is forecast to grow to 28.4 million by 2018.
The company plans to apply its payment technology platform to e-payment and mobile customers.
Suresh Menon, a financial services executive with a focus on payment systems, cards and process automation technology, will be the general director of UAE-based Net Element.
