Billdesk to buy Worldline India; OpenAI’s new Indian exec

Billdesk is set to acquire Worldline’s India business. This and more in today’s ETtech Top 5.

Also in the letter:
■ Anthropic outshines Indian IT
■ Stripe eyes PayPal
■ BookMyForex data breach

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MN Srinivasu, cofounder, Billdesk

Billdesk will acquire Worldline’s India merchant payments business for $70 million, the French payment company announced today, marking another consolidation move in the domestic fintech market.

Driving the news:

• The deal pushes Billdesk, one of India’s largest bill payment processors, deeper into merchant acquiring.
• Closing is expected in the second half of the current year.

Twist in the tale: Billdesk itself was set to be acquired by Prosus-owned PayU in a $4.7 billion transaction in 2021. The agreement collapsed in 2022 after PayU withdrew despite receiving regulatory approvals.

Zooming out: Worldline had built scale in payments through acquisitions, including Ingenico. Margin pressure in global payments has since prompted it to exit non-core assets.

• Worldline will continue offering its software stack to Billdesk after closing.
• Its India-based global capability centres will remain operational, supporting Western European markets.

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Arvind KC, chief people officer, OpenAI

OpenAI has appointed Arvind KC as its new chief people officer, strengthening its leadership bench as the company scales operations.

Tell me more: Arvind will oversee hiring, onboarding, employee development and performance management across the organisation. He succeeds Julia Villagra, who stepped down in August 2025, less than six months after joining.

He joins a growing group of Indian-origin leaders at OpenAI, including Vijaye Raji, chief technology officer for applications, and Srinivas Narayanan, vice president of engineering.

Indian execs in the Valley: Indian-origin executives continue to occupy senior roles across major US technology firms.

• Uber: Balaji Krishnamurthy - chief financial officer (CFO); Praveen Naga - chief technology officer (CTO); Sachin Kansal - chief product officer (CPO)
• Anthropic: Rahul Patil - CTO
• Tesla: Vaibhav Taneja - CFO and chief accounting officer
• Apple: Sabih Khan - chief operating officer (COO)

Beyond Indian-origin CEOs at firms such as Alphabet, Microsoft and Adobe, companies are increasingly tapping senior executives from India for top operational and technical roles.

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Dario Amodei, CEO, Anthropic

Anthropic’s valuation has climbed to about $380 billion, eclipsing the combined market capitalisation of India’s listed IT companies and highlighting the artificial intelligence-led shift underway in global technology markets.

What’s happening? The combined value of Tata Consultancy Services, Infosys, Wipro, HCL Technologies and Tech Mahindra stands at roughly $240 billion, well below Anthropic’s latest mark.

Founded in 2021, Anthropic has rapidly emerged as one of the most valuable players in the sector.


Zoom out: AI-driven disruption has weighed heavily on Indian IT stocks. The Nifty IT index fell about 21% in February, marking its steepest monthly decline since the 2008 financial crisis.

Also Read: ETtech Explainer: Decoding Anthropic’s Claude Code update that triggered IBM selloff

Selling pressure intensified after Anthropic introduced new AI tools designed to automate a wide range of professional workflows. And then, earlier this week, the company said its Claude Coworking tool could automate COBOL tasks used on IBM mainframes, triggering another round of declines in IT shares.

Also Read: Anthropic AI’s COBOL code advances unlock new doors for IT companies

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Payment processing firm Stripe is exploring a potential takeover of PayPal, according to Bloomberg.

What’s happening? Stripe has shown preliminary interest in acquiring either the entire company or select assets. However, discussions remain early, and may not lead to a transaction, the report added.

PayPal shares rose 6.7% to $47.02 in New York, valuing the company at about $43.3 billion. Stripe, meanwhile, recently reached a $159 billion valuation through an employee tender offer.

Yes, and? Bloomberg recently reported that PayPal has attracted takeover interest after a prolonged share-price slide erased nearly half its value. Former chief executive Alex Chriss exited earlier this month after a turnaround effort failed to gain traction.

Board chair Enrique Lores will take over as president and chief executive on March 1, tasked with reviving a business that has ceded ground to Apple Pay and Google Pay.

The kicker: A deal, if and when it happens, would mark a full-circle moment. PayPal founders Elon Musk and Peter Thiel are early investors in Stripe, having participated in a $2 million round in the company in March 2011 at a $20 million valuation.

Also Read: PayPal replaces CEO Chriss with HP's Lores

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Mumbai’s fintech ecosystem is facing fresh security concerns after users of a multi-currency forex card issued by Yes Bank in partnership with BookMyForex reported unauthorised international transactions.

Tell me more: Customers flagged suspicious charges in US Dollars and Brazilian Real, with some saying balances were being drained in real time. Several users also reported difficulty accessing the app or card portal to block their cards.

Company response:

• MakeMyTrip-owned BookMyForex denied any data breach, saying Yes Bank detected “unusual volumes” of false transaction attempts from a specific country.
• The bank has reportedly blocked transactions from that geography, initiated chargeback proceedings, and frozen affected cards.
• The company said customer balances remain secure.

Breach or bot attack? People familiar with the matter said attackers may have obtained card details — including CVVs — possibly via a compromised database or vendor. Small “test” transactions may have preceded larger debits, with Brazilian Real routing used to evade monitoring.