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Visa Inc. said Wednesday it has acquired Payworks GmbH, a Munich-based developer of cloud-based point-of-sale payment-gateway software. Visa intends to integrate Payworks’ technology with that of another Visa property, CyberSource, and offer the combined product to merchants and acquirers. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
The combined offering will support in-store, online, and in-app transactions and will offer a single integration to allow Visa clients to accept POS payments through a range of terminal types, according to Visa. The payment network had first invested in Payworks in February 2018.
“For the past two years, we have partnered closely with Payworks to deliver cutting-edge integrated-commerce solutions for CyberSource’s clients worldwide,” said Carleigh Jaques, Visa’s senior vice president and global head of digital merchant products, in a statement. “As these solutions become mainstream, aligning more closely with Payworks and combining our businesses is a natural extension of our relationship.”
The deal for Payworks taps into a trend among merchants toward supporting transactions across multiple channels. The trend includes integrations to enable, for example, transactions that involve buying goods online and picking them up in-store.
“Integrated commerce is an accelerating opportunity for Payworks and its clients,” said Christian Deger, chief executive and cofounder at Payworks, in a statement. “By combining our POS technology with CyberSource’s digital-commerce capabilities, we can bring our joint solution to merchants and acquirers across the globe at an accelerated pace.”
For its part, Visa cites Internet Retailer research indicating 58% of shoppers have ordered online and collected the goods later in the store. Thirty-seven percent of consumers who buy online with pick-up later buy more goods when they come get their order, Visa said, citing research from OrderDynamics.
Both Visa and its largest rival, Mastercard Inc., have followed a stepped-up acquisition strategy in recent years. The deal for Payworks, indeed, follows on the heels of Visa’s announcement late last month that it will buy Verifi Inc., a provider of collaboration tools to fight chargebacks, for undisclosed terms. That deal also involves CyberSource, whose risk-management capabilities will be integrated with Verifi.
In related news, ACI Worldwide Inc. said Wednesday that merchant processor Worldpay Inc. will integrate its UP eCommerce Payments software to enable a wider array of alternative payment methods for merchants globally. Worldpay, which says it supports more than 300 payment methods, will use the ACI integration to add more methods in various regions of the world and also cut the time it takes for merchants to enable new methods, according to the announcement. ACI said its product supports payments in more than 160 countries.
“Industry research shows that offering the top three payment methods in any market, rather than only the top one, can increase merchants’ conversion rates up to 30%,” said Benny Tadele, vice president for merchant solutions at Naples, Fla.-based ACI, in a statement. “In Europe, this is particularly important, with a wide selection of payment preferences, including traditional cards, e-wallets and mobile wallets, online bank transfers and invoices.”
For Cincinnati-based Worldpay, the collaboration will also streamline operations as transactions increasingly cross national borders. “As more of our merchants expand into cross-border and cross-channel trade, offering local payment types that are recognized, trusted, and utilized by consumers is an increasingly important factor for business success,” said Asif Ramji, chief product and marketing officer at Worldpay, in a statement.
Jacksonville, Fla.-based Fidelity National Information Services Inc. agreed in March to acquire Worldpay in a $43-billion deal expected to close later this year.
