Over the years, cash payments have been the king of the retail market. It was a time when technology had not taken over and there was lesser penetration of digital payments, people were less trusting of the idea of cashless payment methods like cards and other modes.
But with globalization and evolved technologies, different modes and methods of payment came into being, and emerging as one of the most trusted payments were card payments.
Featuring in The Enterprise World’s this issue of The Best of 5 Recommended Digital Payment Solution Providers To Watch is Mswipe, a company providing hassle-free and contactless payments.
In this interview with Ketan Patel (CEO) and Manish Patel (Founder & MD), let us know more about the Mswipe.
Brief us about the company.
Mswipe is a pioneer in providing EDC machines that are safe and secure and accepts all debit & credit cards. Mswipe is the largest non-bank EDC Provider with over half a million merchants on its platform. It has secured funding of over USD 100 mn from some of the leading technology and fintech-focused VCs in India such as Matrix Partners, Falcon Edge, B Capital, Epiq Capital, etc. As of the year ended 31st March 2021, Mswipe recorded gross revenue of INR 220 Cr.
Mswipe Technologies Pvt Ltd established in 2011 is known as a leader in digital payments and offers POS solutions for all types of payment acceptance – cards, wallets, mobile payment apps and bank apps, contactless and QR payments.
What were the initial challenges you faced?
In the initial years, Mswipe services were limited to selling POS terminals to Merchants. Being a one-trick pony company, specializing just in one form of credit/debit payment acceptance form, it made it very easy for merchants to move to other more lucrative POS options. Further, a highly competitive environment didn’t make it easy with many more large capital players venturing into the digital payment business.
Which was that point that triggered the growth of the company?
The 2016 demonetization fuelled the demand for digital payments across India.
How have the company graphs changed since the foundation? Can you share a few statistics?
What is the reason behind your company’s long-standing success?
Our constant focus on Product Excellence, Customer Satisfaction and Ruthless Execution across 800+ cities.
Product and Services
What are the products/services the company focuses on? How are your services different from those in the market?
Mswipe provides products and services which help its MSME and SME merchants to manage their payments across all kinds of payment acceptance forms, value-added services which help merchants get more footfall and generate income via POS and working capital loans to grow their businesses. We have revolutionized payments with innovative technology. For instance, Mswipe is bank agnostic and merchants have a preference to settle their collections via any bank account of their choice. We are a one-stop-shop for merchants. We offer credit facilities to help merchants expand their business.
New business owners can make use of our in-house inventory & store management app as well as other business utility app offerings. Our well-placed brand and bank partnerships offer a variety of discounts and schemes. Merchants can even sell insurance via our payment apps. Our unique offering of ATM@POS facilitates good footfall. Our POS solutions are widely deployed in airlines, energy, entertainment, retail, e-commerce delivery platforms with a high level of customization and integration.
How do you decide to take the company a step further in terms of your products/services?
We have transformed from a single product point of offering to an array of multifaceted digital payment solutions. Fast-paced technology catering to customer needs drives our business. We have moved from not just a payment platform to selling insurance, offering loan and credit facilities, to even serving as a digital bank for small merchants. For the Merchant, ‘the World is their oyster when it comes to using our services. Our vision is being met which is to transform the financial services landscape and continue to build Mswipe as a superior financial platform for MSMEs built on the tenants of accessibility and affordability.
Is there any new addition to the list of products/services? Anything exciting you would like to share?
The WisePOSGo
This device is a compact, lightweight and user-friendly device, designed to keep in view the cost-centric requirements of MSME merchants. It is an exciting product as the merchant can also make calls using this android-based POS device. This device is an all-in-one swiping machine loaded with advanced features such as contactless payment, mobile phone, QR code, pay by link, magstripe, and barcode scanner. This on-the-go POS device will help merchants increase business revenue by providing a convenient and flexible way of purchase.
Insurance at POS
With the rising two-wheeler sales in India, it is estimated that close to 70% of vehicles haven’t been insured. Mswipe with the help of merchants can reach the far corners of India and offer insurance against damages for such two-wheeler vehicles. The process is further made simpler by its digital approach wherein merchants would not have to provide any physical documentation for registration. It also benefits merchants as they would be able to earn extra income apart from their existing business or services. Another added benefit comes with the fact that SME’s can also earn a good amount of commission with every insurance that they sell.
MicroATM
This is a unique POS product that supports card sales and Micro ATM for cash withdrawal at the merchant locations. The product is bundled with UPI QR, Paybylink, and Moneyback card, thus combining all collection and payout needs of the merchants on a single platform. Further, this comes at Zero rental, handsome commission on cash withdrawals, and up to 1% cashback on card spending making ROI on POS highly attractive for small businesses who were wary of adopting POS transactions in view of the high cost of POS ownership. ATM Express helps more customers walk into the shop leading to higher sales for merchants.
Mcapital
Mcapital which is the lending arm of Mswipe is a registered NBFC and aims to provide merchant financing and business loans to small merchants. Mcapital addresses the under-served segment of small merchants with quick and easy access to formal credit using technology. This is done by leveraging alternate payments data to underwrite the merchant more efficiently who otherwise may not get access to formal credit given the nature of business and other factors. Mcapital positions itself as a one-stop-shop for the merchant to meet both their payments and their lending requirements.
Is there any special experience with your clients you would like to highlight?
Our best example would be our enterprise client, Mumbai Traffic Police (MTP). We started in early 2017 and deployed our android-based smart POS with MTP. Today, the current scale of volume is 8 crores turnover per month. Our devices and POS solutions enable end-to-end integration and support on-the-spot e-challans, Optical Character Reading / OCR features ie reading vehicle name plate, integration with towing van systems make our POS solutions very viable. I would like to share that during Dussehra puja, our POS devices were also worshipped along with firearms by the Mumbai police team!
