SBI-backed Cashfree Payments acquires checkout platform Zecpe

Cashfree Payments CEO and co-founder Akash Sinha.

Payments gateway platform Cashfree Payments has acquired one-click checkout platform Zecpe for an undisclosed amount.

Zecpe, which enables e-commerce businesses to improve checkout conversion by making the process quick for customers, will operate as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cashfree Payments, the company said in a media statement on February 28.

“We see immense synergies between our existing products and the solutions offered by Zecpe, making it an excellent addition to our D2C Payments Suite enabled for e-commerce businesses. We are certain that this acquisition will strengthen our D2C one-click checkout capabilities and further elevate our leadership position in the SMB space,” Cashfree Payments CEO and co-founder Akash Sinha said.

This acquisition will likely enable Cashfree Payments to offer additional value-added services like Return to Origin (RTO) reduction, fraud detection, and address pre-filling.

“The solution provided by Zecpe is in line with Cashfree Payments’ product strategy which focuses on the benefits to end customers of their merchants,” Sinha added.

Founded in 2015 by Sinha and Reeju Datta, Payment gateway Cashfree enables businesses in India to collect payments online and make payouts.

In 2021, it raised strategic funding from India’s largest lender State Bank of India (SBI) at a post-money valuation of $200 million.

Hriday Agarwal, Founder of Zecpe, will join the Cashfree Payments team as Head, e-commerce, checkout. The employees of Zecpe will also join Cashfree Payments along with him to help scale the product further, the statement said.

“D2C space is exploding in India and presents a fantastic opportunity to help e-commerce players increase their conversion rates and reduce COD fraud and returns. Since we have one of the largest networks of prominent brands working with us, we know this space very well,” Agarwal said.

Cashfree Payments claims to have more than 3,00,000 merchants to collect payments and make payouts via all available methods.

The company had earlier acquired Telr, a leading payment service provider in the UAE and Saudi Arabia, as a part of its strategy to expand its footprint in the Middle East North Africa region.