Peter Michaud, director of project management for The Strawhecker Group, notes a transition from last year—when a lot of the bigger payment companies, such as First Data, TSYS, and Vantiv (now Worldpay), entered back into the acquisition market—to this year, with many current acquisitions involving some smaller players and strategic product acquisition purchases.
In particular, he notes TSYS’s acquisition of iMobile3, a Florida-based company that provides private-label, small business solutions and technology services within the payments industry. “And even with TSYS’s purchase of Cayan [completed in January], the value was in the products and platform in addition to the portfolio,” he says.