The Integrated Opportunity: First Data’s Acquisition of CardConnect
The world around us has become increasingly connected, and as such purchasing behaviors of consumers are evolving as well as the tactics merchants are pursuing to take advantage of this reality. For payment providers, the need has been clear: a frictionless, efficient and integrated solution for merchants. Unfortunately, for many incumbents with legacy technology, supporting digital and physical payments across multiple channels has been a hurdle. However, major acquirers understand that we live in a software economy and an integrated payment technology approach can win new customers and help retain existing ones. As such, there is a gold rush within the acquiring community to acquire integrated payment assets. Hence, First Data’s acquisition of CardConnect for $750 million which is expected to close in the third quarter of 2017. This deal follows other integrated plays such as the TSYS acquisition of Transfirst, PayPal’s acquisition of Braintree and the billions that Vantiv has spent on acquiring integrated technology. More so, private equity firm GTCR recently announced the acquisition of Sage’s North American Payment Solutions business to build out an SMB integrated offering.