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Visa says its size will help it succeed in launching its own digital wallet, a market where many established payment companies have learned that bigger isn't always better.
May 11
Visa Inc. is paying about $110 million to acquire Fundamo, a mobile payments company that focuses primarily on working with mobile network operators and banks in developing regions.
The San Francisco payment network said Thursday that the acquisition, which it expects to close today, builds on the strategy it outlined last month to expand its mobile capabilities around the globe through new electronic payment services.
Fundamo's technology specifically will help improve access to financial services for unbanked and underbanked consumers through person-to-person payments, bill payment and other mobile-based programs, Visa said in a press release.
Combining Visa's existing relationships with financial institutions worldwide "with Fundamo's expertise in delivering mobile financial services in developing economies presents us with an important long-term opportunity to grow our business and drive financial inclusion in key geographic markets," Joseph Saunders, Visa's chairman and chief executive, said in the release.
Fundamo, based in Cape Town, South Africa, is involved in more than 50 mobile-based projects in more than 40 countries.
In addition to the acquisition, Visa said it also signed a new agreement with the vendor Monitise PLC to develop mobile banking services to Visa cardholders outside the U.S. However, Visa said it and Monitise are also working on a new service for Visa's U.S. bank clients to speed up the deployment of mobile-based programs like P-to-P payments, transaction alerts and marketing offers.
