Ola Money acquired Qarth, a start-up and the developer of the X-Pay app that allows users to make payment through Immediate Payment Service (IMPS), Techcrunch reported.
Users can now use Ola Money to pay and recharge their Mumbai Metro smart cards, Ola Money said in a news release. The company also announced that it has tied up with the Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation (RSRTC) as an exclusive online payment partner.
The Ola Money app can also be used to pay for mobile phone recharges and make payments at OYO Rooms, Café Coffee Day, Doormint and hundreds of merchants. A further addition to the list of features is the ability to send money to friends and family, a key feature of the X-Pay app that Qarth had developed.
Qarth Technologies is a Chennai-based mobile payments service that was incubated at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IITM). In an interview with International Business Times, India, Prerith Shrivastava, co-founder and CEO of Qarth, said: "We were both [Qarth and Ola] keen on enhancing customer experience when it comes to making payments online turning it into a seamless experience. Ola recognised our potential, which resulted in the acquisition."
Shrivastava confirmed that post the acquisition, Qarth will be completely absorbed by Ola. He, however, did not disclose the monetary details of the acquisition.
