Sydney, 13 November 2014: The shareholders of Cuscal Limited (Cuscal), one of Australia’s leading providers of end-to-end payments, have today voted to approve the acquisition of Strategic Payments Services Pty Ltd (SPS).
According to Managing Director Craig Kennedy, the acquisition cements Cuscal’s unique market position as the only independent ADI licensed wholesale payments company to deliver banking capabilities and payments solutions across the entire spectrum of the payments value chain.
“I’m delighted Cuscal’s shareholders have approved this acquisition. Combining SPS’ capabilities alongside ours puts Cuscal in an excellent position within the payments market where innovation is the key to future success.
“Integrating with SPS means we can sharpen our focus and investment towards research, development and delivery of market leading technology, as well as continue to offer emerging players a neutral platform to operate from,” Mr Kennedy said.
The acquisition gives the combined entity more than 10 per cent of the Australian electronic funds transfer (EFT) market, thereby providing healthy competition and greater choice for clients. It also comes only months after Cuscal launched one of the world’s first HCE (Host Card Emulation) based mobile payments solution for Visa cardholders in Australia.
Managing Director of SPS, Simon Stephenson, welcomed the news.
“SPS and Cuscal are both strong, innovative payments businesses underpinned by dedicated and talented staff. I am confident the acquisition will create a new, unique and powerful player in the Australian payments landscape, delivering growth opportunities and significant benefits for the people and customers of both organisations,” said Mr Stephenson.
The combined entity will service more than 100 clients across a number of industries including financial institutions, mutual banks, credit unions, insurers, government departments and agencies as well as major retail corporations.
Under the deal, owners of SPS – Bendigo Bank and Mastercard – will take an approximate 10 per cent stake each of the final combined entity.
Managing Director of Bendigo Bank, Mike Hirst, welcomed the shareholder approval.
“We look forward to working with Cuscal in the payments space, a focus which will directly assist our goal to be Australia’s most customer-connected bank. The payment solutions that the combined entity will deliver will help us to be even more relevant to customers and their communities,” Mr Hirst said.
About SPS
Since 2006 SPS has achieved an enviable market position as one of the leading independent payment processors in Australia. Its end-to-end solutions include transaction switching, device driving, card management, merchant management, data analysis, back office reporting, settlement and support functions.
