Payments Driving FinTech M&A

M&A volume in the payments space is up 23 percent in the third quarter of 2014, according to a newly released financial technology M&A report by mid-market investment bank Berkery Noyes.

Seven of the 10 largest financial technology deals in 2014 have occurred in the payments sector, and three of these transactions occurred in Q3. Two transactions reached the $1 billion threshold, including of FleetCor’s acquisition Comdata Corporation for $3.5 billion and Ingenico Group’s acquisition of GlobalCollect for $1.1 billion, according to the report.

Further, the report found that the aggregate value of FinTech M&A deals almost doubled during Q3, from $5.3 billion last year to $10 billion.

The report analyzed M&A activity during the first three quarters of 2014, covering information and technology companies in capital markets, payments, banking, insurance, and other related financial services.

Berkery Noyes also believes there are other factors that could see payments M&A activity rise even further in the coming year. One is the announcement of Apple Pay, the NFC-based mobile payments system that launched this week. Also, the October 2015 deadline for U.S. merchants to accept EMV cards is another. One notable transaction that already occurred involving EMV standards in third quarter 2014 was ACI Worldwide’s $113 million acquisition of Retail Decisions (ReD), an e-commerce and fraud prevention company that serves the payments market, said Berkery Noyes.

Bryan Yurcan is associate editor for Bank Systems and Technology. He has worked in various editorial capacities for newspapers and magazines for the past 8 years. After beginning his career as a municipal and courts reporter for daily newspapers in upstate New York, Bryan has ... View Full Bio