Mastercard To Acquire Transactis

To strengthen its bill payment services, Mastercard said on Friday (May 3) that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Transactis. The move supports efforts to transform and accelerate the growth of Mastercard Bill Pay Exchange, the company said in an announcement.

“We see Transactis as strengthening our support of the bill payments space,” Colleen Taylor, executive vice president of new payment platforms, North America for Mastercard, said in the announcement. “Transactis’ technical and commercial know-how, combined with our reach and comprehensive payment options will greatly simplify the entire process. We’ll be able to deliver a better real-time consumer experience, from sign-up to viewing and paying bills, leveraging the investments that have been made in the core infrastructure.”

Technology from Transactis helps firms bolster the bill payment experience of its customers while decreasing inefficiencies associated with paper bills and checks. The company offers access to a flexible digital service that can be used by even the smallest businesses, such as property owners and schools that don’t often support bill pay.

According to the announcement, 44 percent of the 15 billion bills that Americans pay each year are made by paper check or cash. But consumers who make bill payments online do so in many ways such as biller’s websites and online banking applications. Through the acquisition, Mastercard says it can now address bill payment needs in biller websites in addition to online bank applications with expanded payment options, enhanced end-user interfaces and digital bill presentment capabilities.

“Mastercard has been a great partner and pushed the industry forward in this space,” Transactis CEO Joe Proto said in the announcement. “Historically, neither the Bank Bill Pay nor Biller Direct models has delivered the ideal experience or the complete solution. We see this as a unique opportunity to bring our complementary technologies together to deliver a better bill pay experience accelerating the migration of paper bill and checks to these online channels.”

The transaction is projected to close in the second quarter and terms of the agreement were not disclosed. Mastercard Bill Pay Exchange is planned for a full launch later in the year.