Venture Infotek and Diners Club Sign Multi-Year Acquiring Agreement
Mumbai, India and Riverwoods, IL – August 19, 2009 – Venture Infotek, India's premier Transaction Management company in conjunction with Diners Club International ® Ltd., a business unit of Discover Financial Services (NYSE:DFS), today announced that they have signed a long-term merchant acquiring agreement. This relationship will create more acceptance opportunities for Diners Club and Discover cardmembers, who eventually will be able to use their cards at Venture Infotek merchants in India .
Under the terms of the agreement, Venture Infotek will provide single source electronic payment services for the acceptance of Diners Club and Discover cards across key merchant categories like Restaurants, Hotels, Airlines, Travel agents and major retail outlets in India .
“Venture Infotek will be the first third-party processor in India to provide highly robust and scalable end-to-end Acquiring Management Services for Diners Club and Discover cards in India . This is a time where adding a new payment type for merchants will be well received,” said Mr. Piyush Khaitan, Managing Director of Venture Infotek. “We believe in providing choice to our merchants. The additional acceptance of Diners Club and Discover cards provides us with a new and exciting opportunity to do that.”
“Diners Club International is an integral part of Discover's global payments strategy, and we are committed to doing more business development with partners around the world to grow the company over the long term,” said Rajive Chadha, President, Diners Club International at Discover. “Since acquiring Diners Club International, one of our key priorities has been to strengthen acceptance, which was, until now, restricted to select merchants in India . This agreement with Venture Infotek is an important step in reaching merchants across the country as we make progress on this initiative.”
Sandeep Bhalla, Business Manager-Cards, Citibank India, said, "As one of the most privileged Card platforms in the world, Diners Club has a 40 year franchise in India with a strong and loyal customer base. While Citi remains the exclusive issuer of Diners cards in India , having a partner in Venture Infotek to grow the acquiring footprint will help make the Diners product stronger, more customer friendly and more widely accepted. We look forward to working with Venture Infotek and Diners Club International in expanding the Diners footprint."
About Venture Infotek:
Venture Infotek Global Pvt. Ltd. is India 's first and leading ISO 9001:2008 transaction processing and knowledge management company. Incorporated in 1997, Venture Infotek pioneered the introduction of e-Payments in India , and since then has continued to be instrumental in shaping this industry. The company not only enjoys a tremendous first mover's advantage, but also has in place a superior infrastructure, providing integrated end-to-end card payment solutions to organizations across industry verticals like banking, financial services, petroleum, retail, manufacturing, government and travel & hospitality.
Venture Infotek manages payment card and other transactions emanating from over 165,000 Merchant locations in India . Last year, Venture Infotek processed 150 Mn transactions with a commerce value of Rs. 35,000 Cr. (USD 7 Bn). The cards and fulfillment division of Venture Infotek, with the largest state-of-the-art secure card personalization bureau in India has a capacity to personalize around 36 million cards per annum. The merchant business division of Venture Infotek, not only offers multi-application Point-of-Sale terminals to merchants, but also innovative products such as ExchangePlus, a Dynamic Currency Conversion solution and a fully secured Internet Payment Gateway. Crossing the digital divide, ‘Venture Grama' – an initiative from the Integrated Solutions & Services Unit delivers Government Benefits (like Health Insurance for the rural poor under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana) through cutting-edge technology, thereby facilitating the inclusive growth and development of the disadvantaged sections of India 's population. With a truly pan-India reach from Leh to Port Blair, Venture Infotek services are available in over 6,000 unique postal PIN codes across the country.
Recent Awards & Recognition:
- Winner of the prestigious International Asia Pacific Quality Organization (IAPQO) Best in Class Award 2009
- Winner of the Indian Merchants Chamber – Ramakrishna Bajaj National Quality Award 2008 in the Small Business category
- Conferred with the “Best Innovation in a Loyalty Card Award” along with partner Welcome Real-time
For more on Venture Infotek, please log on to: www.ventureinfotek.com .
About Diners Club International:
Diners Club International is owned by Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS), a leading credit card issuer and electronic payment services company. Established in 1950, Diners Club International became the first multi-purpose charge card in the world, launching a financial revolution in how consumers and companies pay for products and services. Today, Diners Club is a globally recognized brand serving the payment needs of upscale consumers as well as providing corporations and small business owners with a complete array of expense management solutions. With acceptance in more than 185 countries, 14 million merchant locations, and access to over 1 million ATMs, Diners Club is uniquely qualified to serve its cardholders all over the world.
About Discover Financial Services:
Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS) is a leading credit card issuer and electronic payment services company with one of the most recognized brands in U.S. financial services. Since its inception in 1986, the company has become one of the largest card issuers in the United States . The company operates the Discover card, America 's cash rewards pioneer, and offers student and personal loans, as well as savings products such as certificates of deposit and money market accounts. Its payments businesses consist of Discover Network, with millions of merchant and cash access locations; PULSE, one of the nation's leading ATM/debit networks; and Diners Club International, a global payments network with acceptance in 185 countries and territories. For more information, visit www.discoverfinancial.com .
CONTACT:
Diners Club International
Discover Financial Services
Laura Gingiss
(224) 405-0185
lauragingiss@discover.com
Venture Infotek Global Pvt. Ltd.
Chetan D’Souza
Sr. Manager – Corporate Communication
+91 (22) 4042 4000
chetan.dsouza@ventureinfotek.com