Fiserv-FDC Deal Clears a Regulatory Review and other Digital Transactions News briefs from 7/18/19

Fiserv Inc.’s $22 billion acquisition of First Data Corp. cleared a U.S. Department of Justice review, the company said Thursday. In April, the Justice Department asked for more information and documents related to the deal, but, according to a Fiserv filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the DoJ attached no conditions under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976. Fiserv said a “limited number” of state and non-U.S. reviews are pending.

Five of the top 10 merger-and-acquisition deals in the financial-technology and information industry in the first half of the year took place in the payments business, according to Berkery Noyes, including the $42.9-billion agreement by Fidelity National Information Services Inc. to acquire Worldpay Inc. This deal is the “highest-value transaction ever recorded” by the firm in this segment, it says.

Mastercard Inc. joined several other investors in a Series C funding round of $35 million for Flybits Inc., a startup that assembles bank data to make recommendations to customers.

Payments provider Glance Technologies Inc., developer of Glance Pay, announced a mutual referral agreement with point-of-sale system provider Squirrel Systems Ltd. of Canada.

Giant Eagle Inc., operator of more than 200 supermarkets in the Middle Atlantic and Midwestern states, said it is piloting checkout-free technology at one of its stores. The technology provider is a 3-year-old company called Grabango. The location of the test store was not specified.

Processor Adyen said Postmates, an on-demand delivery service, selected it as one of its payments providers.

SnapPay Inc. said its gateway is allowing Chinese students in Canada to use Alipay and WeChat Pay to buy merchandise at the University of British Columbia bookstore. The school admits more than 4,000 Chinese students each year.

Installment-payments provider Klarna said U.K. consumers of apparel retailer Superdry can use its Pay later or Pay in 3 service. Later this month, U.S. Superdry shoppers will be able to use Klarna’s Pay in 4 option.

The Western Union Co. said it will provide cross-border payments and money-transfer services to U.K. customers of the Post Office Ltd., a commercial retail network with more than 11,500 locations.

Chargeback Gurus received the Minority Business Enterprise Certification from the National Minority Supplier Development Council.

Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals