Airtel acquires YTS Solutions to boost wallet services

NEW DELHI: Bharti Airtel has bought financial products company YTS Solutions and named the startup’s co-founder and MD Manish Khera chief executive officer of Airtel Money. The move comes at a time when India’s top carrier is striving to strengthen its presence in the fast growing mobile commerce space. The acquisition, the first such by an Indian telco in the mobile commerce segment, will help in expanding the portfolio of Airtel Money, a mobile wallet, even as the telco awaits the Reserve Bank of India’s decision on its application for a payments bank licence.

The buy for an unspecified amount will bring in a host of new product capabilities targeted at migrants in urban cities and their families in rural towns and villages, driving financial inclusion, Airtel said in a statement on Monday. “With Airtel’s large customer base, nationwide presence and existing infrastructure, we believe there are synergies which will strengthen the entity’s position in the mobile payments industry,” YTS Co-founder and CEO Shweta Aprameya said in a separate statement.

The acquisition is the first of its kind among telecom service providers who offer mobile wallets. For example, Vodafone has M-Pesa, Idea Cellular has Idea Money and Tata Teleservices has MRupee, and all of them compete with the likes of PayTm, MobiKwik, PayU and Oxigen for a share of the fast growing mobile commerce pie.