Cashfree Payments invests USD 15 million in UAE-based payment service provider Telr

Payments and banking technology firm Cashfree Payments on Tuesday said it has made an investment of USD 15 million in Telr, a payment service provider in the UAE and Saudi Arabia.

While the company did not disclose the quantum of equity acquired, Cashfree said it has become one of the largest shareholders in the company with this investment.

This strategic investment in Telr will enable Cashfree to launch its distinctive offerings in the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region utilising Telr's strong presence and payment infrastructure, a statement said.

In addition, Cashfree and Telr aim to develop a unified cross-border payments platform that would help Indian merchants accept payments from customers in the MENA region and vice-versa, via a single integration, it added.

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Telr offers a platform that enables handling payments in over 120 currencies and 30 languages with the highest level of security. Through a single integration, Telr grants access to every payment method it offers, including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, UnionPay, Apple Pay, PayPal, SADAD, Mada and STCPay.

The investment is highly significant for Cashfree as the MENA region offers a large, attractive and growing online market, with payments representing the highly developed sub-sector within the region's fintech space, the statement said.

The MENA region is witnessing a continuous transition towards cashless transactions, with traditional brick-and-mortar businesses moving towards expanding online offerings. The e-commerce businesses are also witnessing a drastic shift from high street to online shopping and this trend is expected to grow even more.

"Telr's trusted presence and significant operations in the MENA region provides us an exciting opportunity. We are grateful to our key institutional investor Apis for helping us source and execute this strategic investment," Cashfree Payments CEO and co-founder Akash Sinha said.

He added that the company is looking forward to nurturing its partnership with Telr by leveraging its learnings and experience from the Indian market and enhancing its reach in the MENA region by introducing novel offerings.

"Joining forces with Cashfree Payments will further enable us to continue on our innovation and growth journey. Our offerings and partnerships aim to assist in reaching an integrated e-commerce ecosystem supporting the UAE in its transition into a cashless economy; and contributing to the KSA vision 2030," Khalil Alami, CEO and founder of Telr, said.