Mergers & Acquisitions

February, 2020

• 4 February

  Fiserv Tugs the Curtain Back a Bit on Early Gains From Its Big First Data Acquisition

  

  Six months after closing on its $22 billion acquisition of First Data Corp., Fiserv Inc. on Tuesday dropped some tantalizing hints about early benefits the deal has generated for the combined company. First Data’s Clover app-based platform for merchant checkouts, for example, saw its gross payment volume grow fully 40% …
• 4 February

  A Hedge Fund’s Green Dot Stake and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 2/4/20

  

  Activist hedge fund Starboard Value LP has taken an approximately 9% stake in prepaid card and banking services provider Green Dot Corp., according to a regulatory filing. Green Dot issued a statement saying it “welcomes transparent, constructive feedback regarding the common goal of enhancing long-term shareholder value.” In the wake of a big …
• 3 February

  POS Terminal Kingpin Ingenico Agrees To Be Acquired by Worldline in an $8.6 Billion Deal

  

  The mega mergers aren’t over yet. In a global move with potentially major implications for the U.S. payments market, Ingenico Group S.A. said it has agreed to be acquired by Worldline S.A. for cash and stock consideration totaling approximately $8.6 billion. The transaction, expected to close in the third quarter, …
• 3 February

  Cornerstone Purchases Move Your Mountain and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 2/3/20

  

  Cornerstone Payment Systems announced the acquisition of Move Your Mountain, a crowd-funding platform. Terms were not disclosed.Digital cross-border payments provider Remitly Inc. launched Passbook by Remitly, a mobile app aimed at immigrants in the United States that features a no-fee account from Sunrise Banks N.A. and real-time transfers via Visa Inc.’s Visa Direct …

January, 2020

• 29 January

  Visa Will Be the Network for the New Venmo Card As PayPal Gets Set for Growth in China

  

  News emerged Wednesday from PayPal Holdings Inc.’s earnings call that Visa Inc. will serve as the network for a Venmo credit card PayPal announced in October. This development follows by one week PayPal’s announcement that it has struck a deal with UnionPay, China’s payment card giant, to integrate UnionPay cards …
• 29 January

  Mastercard Reports Strong Volume Growth, but Is Keeping an Eye on the Coronavirus

  

  Mastercard Inc. on Wednesday reported double-digit growth in fourth-quarter purchase volume and transactions, but reduced economic activity from the Coronavirus that originated in China could put a crimp on growth early this year. “We’ll take this as it comes, one step at a time,” Mastercard chief executive Ajay Banga said …
• 24 January

  WEX Makes Two Acquisitions and other Digital Transactions News brief from 1/24/20

  

  WEX Inc., a processor in the fleet-fueling and corporate transaction market, said it has agreed to acquire eNett, a business-to-business payments software company specializing in the travel market, and Optal, a specialist provider of B2B transactions, for approximately $1.275 billion in cash and approximately 2 million shares of WEX common …
• 22 January

  Another Libra Departure and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/22/20

  

  British telecommunications giant Vodafone Group Plc has become the latest Libra participant to withdraw from the controversial digital-currency project initiated by Facebook Inc., Reuters reported. Other early participants that have withdrawn include Visa, Mastercard, PayPal, Stripe, and eBay.With an eye on expanding its Bitcoin services, merchant processor Square Inc. said it is developing what it calls …
• 17 January

  2019 Holiday Sales Increased 4.1% and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 1/17/20

  

  The National Retail Federation reported 2019’s holiday retail sales grew 4.1% over the same period in 2018 to $730.2 billion. Online and other non-store sales rose 14.6% to $167.8 billion and are included in the totalE-commerce services and payments provider Shopify Inc. is offering new businesses what it calls “starter loans” of $200 through …
• 15 January

  U.S. Bancorp’s Merchant Volume Rises 10% While BofA Sees Big Zelle Growth

  

  U.S. Bancorp, owner of the big merchant acquirer Elavon Inc., reported Wednesday that its fourth-quarter 2019 merchant volume rose 10.5% year-over-year on a nearly 14% increase in transactions. And U.S. Bancorp rival Bank of America Corp. said its volume for the Zelle person-to-person payments service jumped 76%. Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp …