India-based Infibeam Avenues, an established online payment solutions and enterprise software developer, has agreed to a new deal that involves licensing its digital commerce and payment software to Jio Platforms, a local digital services firm and a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Ltd. (according to a BSE filing).
Infibeam Avenues is the Gandhinagar-based parent of payment gateway firm CCAvenue.
As confirmed by Infibeam:
“We hereby inform that the Company has entered into a definitive agreement with Jio Platforms Limited and its affiliates, to license , customize, maintain and access our Enterprise E-commerce Software and Payments Platform for their business use.”
Infibeam’s platform allows businesses to conduct transactions online, manage their purchase orders, keep track of inventory and logistics, handle pending digital payments and also engage in online marketing.
As reported by the Economic Times, Infibeam has been awarded a contract to run the government digital or online marketplace (GeM). Infibeam also works with several other enterprise clients such as Sony and Nilkamal.
Infibeam has reported Rs 103 crore (appr. $14 million) in (expected) operating revenue for the first quarter of financial year (FY) 2021 ending in June of next year. This would represent a 24% decline when compared to Rs 136 crore in revenue expected by the final quarter of this year. The company’s total profits after taxes have dropped by 58.6% to Rs 12 crore, which is significantly lower than the Rs 29 crore in profits reported for the first quarter of this year.
Jio Platforms is an integrated technology platform that provides various digital services such as streaming music, online retail, education, agriculture-related products and telemedicine.
As reported in January 2020, Infibeam Avenues Limited had recorded the highest ever digital payment processing volume of approximately INR 159 billion (appr. $2.23 billion) during a period of significant slowdown in the nation’s economy and also amidst tough competition.
India’s digital payments industry had gone through several different regulatory reforms during the past few months (back in January of this year) that had affected the profit margins and net revenues of local Fintech firms. Infibeam’s management had confirmed that the firm had a flattish growth in PAT at roughly INR 259 million ($3.63 million) during Q3 2019 and for the period ending December 31, 2019.
Vishal Mehta, managing director at Infibeam, had stated (in January 2020):
“We will continue to invest and build cutting edge technology and innovate in digital software and payments that will improve the way merchants and customers trade and transact through digitization and democratization of Commerce.”
As previously reported, Infibeam is also involved in other ventures including BillAvenue and a digital payments business CCAvenue, which has been expanding its operations in the Middle East by working cooperatively with one of the region’s largest financial institutions, Riyad Bank. The two companies will provide online payments solutions to e-commerce businesses in Saudi Arabia, a market that is expected to reach $11 billion by 2022.