fonePaisa looks at making payments easier, faster & safer

Startup Showcase

To empower customers with omni-potential trustworthy solutions, ensuring safety and convenience, technology and banking veterans Sharad Hegde (former CTO of Infosys), C S Prasad (former head of Engineering at Finacle) and Ritesh Agarwal (seasoned banker and technologist) started fonePaisa Payment Solutions, a fintech startup headquartered in Bengaluru in November 2014.

The free mobile payment app fonePaisa enables customers to pay with their smartphone, directly from their credit/debit card, net banking, UPI, prominent mobile wallets and accrued loyalty points. It offers an omni-channel payment platform that can work on any technology and form factor for consumers and businesses.

Speaking to DH, Agarwal, co-founder – CEO, fonePaisa said, “fonePaisa is revolutionising the way businesses and individuals send or receive payments. We are a one-stop solution, an aggregator of payment solutions based on technology innovation. We bring the worlds of mobile and payments together, along with several value-added features such as invoicing, reconciliation and communication on a single platform, making payments simple for individuals and businesses. Our aim is to make payments easier, faster and safer.”

In-house technology

The technology at the company is built in-house with a highly scalable and robust payment engine that has completed the RBI-mandated vulnerability assessment and penetration testing without a single adverse observation.

The company leverages the next generation of interoperable payment solutions based on technology innovation, and offers a cashless and cardless world to consumers, in which they have full control over their money and offers a secure and real-time payment and accounts reconciliation solutions for organisations of all sizes and industries, enabling them to achieve greater efficiencies in sales and cash-flow optimisation. It also offers seamless, integrated on-demand payments for online, in-app and brick & mortar merchants, with consumer-side authentication on their smartphones.

“Recently we have tied up with Haryana Tourism Corporation wherein our platform has been used across their nine resorts in Faridabad for seamless payment tractions,” Agarwal added.

“At present, we are 30 people, with 20 in Bengaluru, and the remaining team across Mumbai and New Delhi. In the coming six months, we will be tripling our strength with focus on sales and marketing, Agarwal said, adding, “Started just over two years ago as a self financed company; now we are looking for growth money to reach out to more customers and corporate. In the next six months, we will be looking at raising over Rs 25 crore.”