Hitachi Payment Services (Hitachi Payments), a subsidiary of Japanese conglomerate Hitachi, has agreed to create a joint venture (JV) with State Bank of India (SBI) to accelerate digital payments in India.
Image: SBI to form JV with Hitachi Payments. Photo: courtesy of Manjulkumar/Wikipedia.org.
The Hitachi Payments and SBI JV plans to set up a state-of-the-art card acceptance and future ready digital payments platform for India.
In this regard, the India-based Hitachi Payments plans to acquire a 26% stake in SBI Payment Services, an SBI subsidiary, thereby making it a JV between both parties.
Both Hitachi Payments and SBI will move ahead to seek regulatory approvals for the JV.
Since 2011, the Hitachi subsidiary has been providing deployment, technology and management services for the card and digital acceptance payment network of the Indian state-owned commercial bank.
Through the joint venture, Hitachi forays into the merchant acquiring business in India. Hitachi Payments is expected to play a role in developing and expanding digital payments service business in India through the creation of a digital payments platform.
The new payments platform, in turn, is anticipated to facilitate better convenience and quality by integrating the large customer base, branch network, brand trust of SBI and Hitachi’s capability and expertise of digital payments and digital technologies like big data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI).
SBI chairman Rajnish Kumar said: “In Hitachi Payments, we see a long-term business and technology partner that has the ability, capability and willingness to develop the broad vision of SBI which is tied into the success of the digital payment imperatives of the country.
“SBI also believes that the future of the payment services lies in the capability of the JV to develop new digital acquiring strategies for the benefit of its consumers.”
Through the JV, the Hitachi will speed up digitalization of financial services in India by linking up digital payments platform to the digital technologies of its advanced digital solution Lumada.
Further, the Japanese firm also plans to offer solutions for mass transit sector and e-commerce businesses through the joint venture with SBI.
Hitachi president and CEO Toshiaki Higashihara said: “Along with the accelerating movement of digitization around the world, Hitachi aims to improve people’s lives by providing digital solutions in India and other countries.
“By establishing the joint venture with SBI, Hitachi will further contribute to the development of digital payments in India by building a state-of-the-art digital payments platform and leveraging SBI’s robust customer network.”