Mastercard got the necessary regulatory approval from the UK’s Competition & Markets Authority’s (CMA) to proceed with its planned acquisition of VocaLink Holdings Ltd., a global payments provider to banks, corporations and governments.
The CMA gave final approval for the proposed set of remedies that address the competition concerns the CMA identified earlier this year.
“We believe the future of payments will be defined by choice,” Michael Miebach, chief product officer at Mastercard, said. “Adding bank account-based payments alongside our card network extends what we can do and how we can do it. Together, we’ll be one partner to meet all payment needs of businesses, governments and consumers.”
VocaLink’s bank account payment technology currently enables immediate payments in the UK, Singapore and Thailand. The United States is scheduled to go live later this year.
“We have the opportunity to extend everything that we’ve accomplished with cards to bank account-based payments and redraw the lines of what’s possible in commerce,” Miebach said. “We’ll make it more inclusive, by expanding access to electronic payments. We’ll break down barriers, by innovating across payment types and payment flows. We’ll make it faster, bringing additional real-time payment options to more places and across more devices.”
The deal is expected to close within the next few weeks. At that time, VocaLink CEO David Yates will join the Mastercard management committee and become executive chair of VocaLink. Paul Stoddart will be promoted to CEO of VocaLink.
Mastercard said this partnership presents an opportunity to make a sustained shift from the use of cash and checks in business, government and personal payments.