First Data Corp. has made its first foray into the Australian market by forming a merchant acquiring partnership with BankWest, a unit of the U.K.-based Halifax Bank of Scotland PLC.
The partnership, announced Tuesday, will be known as BWA Merchant Services. It will provide a full range of acquiring services for BankWest merchants, including acceptance of debit and credit cards. It will also offer dynamic currency conversion, which converts a charge into customers' home currency on the receipt.
First Data and Halifax Bank of Scotland already had a joint venture for processing transactions in the United Kingdom. Cara Taylor, a spokeswoman for First Data, said that BankWest merchants will shift to the First Data platform over the next eight months.
BankWest is headquartered in Perth, Australia, and has assets of about $614 billion. Ms. Taylor said it is "looking to expand their business across all of Australia, so this deal will help them do that."
