First Data Buys German Cashless Tech Co ayCash

First Data, a commerce-enabling FinTech company, has acquired ayCash, a company that specializes in cashless payment terminals and merchant services in the digital realm, according to a release.

Based in Germany, ayCash was founded in 2008 by Hans Hezel, and it operates YesCash and Cash4Less. The company also offers solutions for Girocard, a service that connects virtually all German banks, and acceptance for credit cards to DACH-based merchants.

“I’m extremely enthusiastic about this deal as it will be tremendously positive for both companies,” Hezel said. “As part of First Data we will be able to further improve our products and services and therefore grow our customer base in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.”

First Data Executive Vice President, Head of EMEA and Co-Head of Global Financial Solutions John Gibbons said he’s looking forward to growing in the area.

“We continue to see strong growth in Germany and are committed to continuing to serve our customers in the region today and into the future,” Gibbons said. “In fact, according one of our recent surveys of cashless trends in Germany, we revealed that as many as 54 percent of German consumers expect cash to become obsolete in as little as a few years.”

Earlier this month, First Data announced the launch of Authorization Optimization, a digital commerce tool that optimizes card-on-file transactions to boost revenue for merchants.

In a press release, First Data said the new solution increases authorization rates for card-on-file transactions by as much as 10 percent by applying intelligent transaction tools. With the Authorization Optimization tools, First Data is going after businesses with a high volume of digital payments, including those in the subscription industry and ridesharing platforms that rely on card-on-file payments.

“Nearly $15 billion in eCommerce revenue is missed annually because merchants haven’t had a reliable authorization optimization strategy,” said Nandan Sheth, head of global digital commerce at First Data. “With our new Authorization Optimization solution, we’re providing our enterprise clients with powerful back-end support, fueled by industry-leading data intelligence. This insightful intelligence is used to boost authorization rates, as well as [to help] merchants retain more customers through a deeper understanding of their portfolio.”