News

Indian IAD Prizm scores $189m in funding

September 27, 2012

Indian ATM deployer and payment service provider Prizm is set to receive an infusion of almost 100 crore rupees ($189 million) from IndoStar Capital Finance Pvt. Ltd., with backing from Everstone Capital Ltd. Prizm will use the 10-year term loan to expand its ATM footprint in India.

The Prizm expansion plan comes in response to a push by the Reserve Bank of India and the Indian government to extend ATM service to the country's rural population, thus bringing them into the banking system, said an article by Live Mint. RBI has implemented a new policy allowing the installation and operation of IAD-owned white-label ATMs in order to speed up the process of financial inclusion.

Prizm Payments has been granted contracts to install and operate 23,000 ATMs over the next few years. The company has been in talks with financing partners for the past few months. The 4-year-old company previously has received funding from Sequoia Capital, Axis Bank Private Equity and Silicon Valley Bank.

"These companies have multiple revenue streams and can become asset owners," K. Ramakrishnan told Live Mint. "With ATMs allowed to offer other services like utility bills payment, they can become businesses that can sustain themselves." Ramakrishnan predicted that four or five strong companies would emerge from the rush of white-label deployments.

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