Pine Labs, one of Asia’s leading merchant commerce platforms, announced an investment by Mastercard that underscores confidence in India’s growing economy.

The investment is part of a partnership to continue the rapid growth of convenient electronic payment options for consumers across the region. The collaboration will deliver an extensive range of card and real-time payments-based instalment financing at checkout – in-store and online.

Together, the companies will offer a suite of value-added services, including Pine Labs’ end-to-end stored value solutions which will replace the paper ones now widely used by companies, retailers and people in South Asia and many other markets.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

From its beginnings as an offline retail payment provider a decade ago, Pine Labs has evolved into offering payment acceptance technology, stored value products, in-store consumer credit and other merchant solutions in India, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Today, it processes payments of US$30 billion per year and serves some 140,000 merchants across about 450,000 network points.

The fast-growing and digitally connected middle class in South Asia and elsewhere is seeking “buy now, pay later” options for a larger range of personal goods and services. This offers enormous potential for merchants, brand owners and financial institutions to drive innovations that maximize flexibility and choice for consumers. Pine Labs works closely with a range of financial institutions and partners who are responsible for the design and delivery of the instalment financing service to merchants and consumers.

“This relationship is a great validation of the top-quality products that Pine Labs delivers to merchants,” said Lokvir Kapoor, founder and chairman of Pine Labs. “Together, we have a unique opportunity to use Mastercard’s global presence and technology infrastructure to enhance our growth and enable us to meet the growing needs of customers in India and beyond.”

A study published in May 2019 by PwC and the Associated Chambers of Commerce of India showed that the market opportunity in India for instalment-based payments on consumer goods will hit US$16.9 billion in 2021 and is expected to jump to US$52.5 billion in 2025.

“Smart devices are transforming how people shop. With this partnership, we’re continuing to build innovative solutions and provide people with new ways to pay right at their fingertips,” said Ari Sarker, co-president for Asia Pacific at Mastercard. “By joining forces with Pine Labs, we are reinforcing our strategy to deliver choice to consumers and to be the partner of choice for our customers in South Asia and around the world.”