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The move by Ceridian Corp., owner of fast-growing payment processor Comdata Corp., to go private in a deal involving Boston-based Thomas H. Lee Partners LLC and insurance-industry processor Fidelity National Financial Inc. represents the latest in a series of processor deals backed by private equity and could lead to yet …
Read More »Emida-Q Comm Merger Could Expand Prepaid Market for ISOs
Two processors specializing in prepaid wireless transactions announced a merger on Wednesday that will create the second-largest provider in the business and could create opportunities for independent sales organizations. In a deal for which terms were not announced, Emida Technologies Inc., Foothill Ranch, Calif., is combining with Orem, Utah-based Q …
Read More »The Winding Road That Led to the Pending Metavante Spin-off
The process that led to Metavante Corp.'s pending spin-off from Milwaukee-based bank-holding company Marshall & Ilsley Corp. started two years ago as the payment processor sought ways to continue making acquisitions, according to a registration statement M&I filed this week with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing?775 pages in …
Read More »MODASolutions Rechristens Its Service, Unveils Buyer Protection
MODASolutions Inc. which has been marketing an online-payment system called SECURE-eBill for more than two years, has renamed the service and introduced its first buyer-protection policy to cover instances of delayed or damaged goods, as well as non-delivery. The new policy comes as online retailers seek alternatives to bank-issued credit …
Read More »End of 50-Day Go-Shop” Period Leaves KKR As Sole First Data Suitor”
The proposed $29 billion buy-out of leading payment processor First Data Corp. by private-equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. cleared another hurdle on Tuesday when First Data reported that its 50-day “go-shop” period had ended without netting any competing bids.n n In announcing the buyout in early April, First …
Read More »Eye on Private Equity: Deals for Alliance Data And TransFirst
Private-equity financing continued to make itself felt this week in the transaction-processing business, with Blackstone Capital Partners VLP's $7.8 billion bid for Alliance Data Systems Corp. and GTCR Golder Rauner LLC's decision to sell TransFirst LLC to an even bigger investment house, Welsh, Carson, Anderson, & Stowe, for $683 million. …
Read More »Image Exchange Hits Key Milestones at SVPCO, Viewpointe
Two milestones announced this week indicate the rapidly growing adoption of image exchange for check processing. SVPCO, which handles paper checks and runs an image exchange network as part of the New York-based The Clearing House Payments Co. LLC, announced on Tuesday that imaged items exceeded paper checks in both …
Read More »Less Hype, More Substance Now Behind M-Banking, M-Payments
Unlike efforts during the dotcom boom to introduce mobile payments and banking?efforts that turned out to be more about hype than substance?initiatives emerging now to deliver financial services via mobile phones will find a ready and willing market, according to executives with a major wireless carrier and bank card network …
Read More »First Data Plans To Cut 12 Data Centers Down to Three by Mid ’09
As part of its efforts to rationalize its operations, First Data Corp. plans to consolidate its 12 U.S. data centers into three over a two-year period starting in the second quarter, according to a quarterly report the processing giant filed this week with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The total …
Read More »Approached by Suitors, eFunds Starts a ‘Strategic Review’
Processor eFunds Corp. today gave further momentum to a financial transformation of the transaction-processing business by announcing that it has hired investment bank Goldman Sachs & Co. to explore what it calls “strategic alternatives” that could result in a merger. The eFunds disclosure comes just over a month after announcements …
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