ICICI Bank, First Data form merchant acquiring JV

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MUMBAI: Expanding its service offering to merchant customers, India's largest private sector lender, ICICI Bank, on Wednesday said it has tied up with First Data to form a merchant acquiring venture named ICICI Merchant Services.First Data, an electronic payment service company, has bought 81 per cent stake in the company for an undisclosed amount, while ICICI Bank holds the remaining 19 per cent.

ICICI Merchant Services plans to build on the bank's existing acquiring portfolio of approximately 150,000 merchants, while ICICI Bank will continue as a settlement banker for the merchants.

"POS (point of sale terminals) and non-cash transactions would play a very significant role in the next couple of years. Electronic transactions are a convenient and safe way to manage commerce and trade," ICICI Bank, Deputy Managing Director, Sandeep Bakhshi, told reporters at a conference here.

Bakhshi said this joint venture would help optimise and improve efficiencies of the bank's business, meet customer needs effectively and increase service quality.

"This business has been positive for us over the last couple of years. All customers across our database will continue to be a part of our merchant acquiring business," Bakhshi said.

Filed Under: Bank , Business , Financial services , First Data , ICICI Bank , India , Managing director , Point of sale