The main payment gateway owned by Naspers of South Africa  PayU is in talks with the sector actor based in Gurgaon MobiKwik to acquire its payment gateway business, three people aware of the matter said. Apart from PayU, other bidders have also held talks for the payment gateway business under Zaakpay while the 10-year parent company seeks to prop up capital for the expansion of its consumer-oriented financial technology business. Other strategic and financial investors are also in talks to buy the fintech firm’s payment business, the person said.

MobiKwik is fighting a broader battle against deep-pocketed rivals such as Paytm, Flipkart-owned Phone Pe and Google Pay in a highly competitive digital payments sector. Its payment gateway subsidiary, Zaakpay, has been looking for fresh funding for a fairly long time, having held discussions with potential investors, people in the know said.

As a part of the payment gateway business, MobiKwik processes card transactions for merchants and earns a commission per transaction. The company also runs a mobile wallet service, sells micro insurance products, and offers mutual fund investments and digital credit.