PayU Acquires Payment Security Firm Wibmo For $70 Million  

PayU, the digital wallet firm owned by Naspers, has acquired California-based payments security company Wibmo as it looks to boost its credit business by partnering with financial institutions.

The $70-million (about Rs 483 crore) acquisition, PayU said, will enable it to build a robust digital payment ecosystem. “Through the acquisition of Wibmo, our endeavor is to positively impact and add value to the entire ecosystem including banks, consumers and merchants, with the combined service offerings of PayU and Wibmo,” Aakash Moondhra, chief financial officer of PayU Global, said, adding that the firm will partner with banks to enable digital banking. “Merchants will gain with higher conversions rates and increased sales, and consumers will have a friction-less experience in completing digital payments transactions.”

Founded by Govind Setlur, Wibmo offers payment security services to financial technology firms. The company, according to its website, claims it is certified by Mastercard, Visa, RuPay, among others.

The Netherlands-headquartered PayU will takeover Wibmo as a part of the deal but it will continue to operate and serve its clients as a wholly owned-subsidiary. Setlur will continue to lead Wibmo, and will report to PayU India's Chief Executive Officer Anirban Mukherjee, the online payment firm said in a statement.

PayU said the latest acquisition takes its fintech investment to over $500 million.