Thailand’s Omise acquires Paysbuy payments business, raises $25m in token sale

Omise co-founders Don Harinsut (L) and Jun Hasegawa (R). Photo credit: Omise.

Thailand’s Omise announced today that it will acquire the online payments business of Paysbuy from local telco Total Access Communication (DTAC). The value of the deal was not disclosed.

Under the terms of the agreement, Paysbuy’s payments facility will be merged into Omise’s. The rest of Paysbuy’s assets will remain with DTAC.

News of the acquisition follows reports yesterday that Omise has raised US$25 million in funding via a digital token sale.

Paysbuy was among the first online payments services to be made available to Thai consumers when it was launched by DTAC – one of the kingdom’s largest mobile carriers and a subsidiary of Norway’s Telenor – back in 2004.

Founded by Jun Hasegawa and Ezra Don Harinsut in June 2013, fellow Thai outfit Omise was originally conceived as an ecommerce platform. But after finding a dearth of feasible online payments options, the co-founders decided to change course and build their own.

One year ago, Omise closed a US$17.5 million series B round – led by Japanese venture capital firm SBI Investment – to take its payments gateway beyond Thailand to neighboring markets. More recently, the company has turned to crowdfunding in the form of a digital token sale in order to raise more capital. First announced in March, the process completed this week with the company raising US$25 million through sales of its OMG token.

Omise marketing executive Carol Crawford tells Tech in Asia that the acquisition of Paysbuy’s payments business will make the company’s existing services accessible to a greater number of Thai consumers, while also laying the groundwork for the introduction of new products such as its OmiseGO ewallet, slated for launch later this year.

Thailand’s online payments industry has heated up in recent years. In addition to a host of locally grown rivals like 2C2P, Omise also faces competition regionally from global players such as Stripe.

Converted from Thai baht. US$1 = THB 34.03.