Magazines Archives - 2010 Oct

MasterCard expands foothold in e-payments market with UK’s DataCash
Story 6 - E-Commerce

GLOBAL payment provider Master- Card Inc has announced the proposed acquisition of London-based e-commerce payments provider DataCash Group plc for £333 million (US$519 million) in a bid to expand its presence in the online and mobile payments market.

MasterCard said that the acquisition, which is expected to close by the end of this month, would expand its e- commerce market in Europe, and hopes that it would “enhance the MiGS (MasterCard Internet Gateway Service) gateway business currently operating in the Asia-Pacific”.

“E-commerce represents an important part of MasterCard’s growth strategy, and this acquisition will allow us to provide new services to our acquiring customers, as well as drive increased e-commerce penetration in both existing and new markets,”

“[The acquisition] will expand our already significant e- commerce merchant gateway presence in Asia and Australia to European countries and other high-growth emerging markets worldwide,” he continued. Banga added that while MasterCard currently receives 55% of its revenues from overseas markets, the “e-commerce business is in an early stage of development”. He maintained: “It’s the opportunity we see in the e-commerce space for the next decade.”

Founded in 1996, DataCash leverages its anti-fraud and technology platforms to provide a single software system that lets companies worldwide process secure payments online and offline across multiple channels. Last year, the company reportedly processed over 240 million transactions for more than 1,400 merchants, and posted revenues of £36.9 million.

“The proposed acquisition ... represents an opportunity for investors today to realise the potential benefits of the combination,” said DataCash’s chairman, Ashley Head. ra

To view other stories, get a copy of Retail Asia. To subscribe, please download the subscription form from http://www.retailasiaonline.com/subscription.html