Iranian Mobile Payment Company Asan Pardakht Preparing For IPO
Asan Pardakht the famous mobile payment app and PSP (Payment Service Provider) is taking its final steps for IPO.
Asan Pardakht AKA AP (pronounced as UP), is Iran’s leading mobile payment provider. Asan Pardakht started off as a payment portal for purchasing mobile operator top ups, paying utility bills and donating to charity. The core technology AP was using was the old school USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) using the local GSM network. Later on AP managed to get a PSP license which became one of the 12 companies in Iran that is allowed to operate as a PSP and an online payment portal.
Today Asan Pardakht is one of the only PSPs in Iran to have certification on “Mobile Payment” which is translated into transactions through mobile. This company has also piloted its mobile payment solution for smart phones for offline merchants using QR code scanning in physical stores. There are currently a few companies in the race of providing a fast, safe and easy mobile payment solution for smartphones which AP is currently in the lead. Though a complete new concept in the post-sanctioned Iran, the competition is getting brutal.
Another huge news is that AP is in preparation for IPO. With over 3 Million users on USSD side and 1.5 Million app downloads, AP is on the way of getting a big piece of pie of the Iranian market. According to ITmen based on an announcement from the officials of Iran’s Exchange, Asan Pardakht is at the final stages of IPO in the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). Officials of the Exchange stated that Asan Pardakht has passed 95% of the processes for IPO and stocks will be available for Public by this September.
This will make Asan Pardakht the first FinTech and Payment company to go IPO in Iran. Mobile operating network giant MTN Irancell is also in the process. It is said that TSE requires the South African stake holders to come to Tehran to discuss further.