Millicom and Kalixa create JV for online payments
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Millicom and Kalixa create JV for online payments

Emerging markets telco Millicom has partnered with payments platform Kalixa to develop a payments service provider to operate in Africa and Latin America.

The joint venture is designed to offer payment acceptance services for businesses and consumers, gateway and point-of-sale solutions for merchants, as well as 1-click payments and eWallet services for online customers.

“Working with Kalixa will enable us to offer a complete digital payments service in markets where ecommerce is growing rapidly and where we already have a strong presence,” said Hans-Holger Albrecht, CEO and president at Millicom. “It is a great combination of our respective expertise.”

The initial phase of the JV will begin in the second half of 2014 in Brazil and Colombia, with the former being the largest ecommerce market in Latin America, and the latter, Millicom’s largest market in the region.

Latin America and Africa represent a combined $1.78 trillion opportunity for the payments industry, according to Ed Chandler, CEO at Kalixa, who said that providing “a connected service with the full spectrum of payment services being offered under one roof” is a milestone for the region.

“As we have already seen in Europe, by removing unnecessary links in the chain we can service customers more efficiently,” Chandler said. “This allows us to pass the value back to help merchants capitalise on the digital explosion happening in this region.”

In July, Millicom launched 4G services in Bolivia, and later in August, its Colombian arm received approval for the acquisition of UNE EPM (Empresas Publicas de Medellin).


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