News

First Data to acquire Austrian processor

August 4, 2005

VIENNA, Austria - First Data Corp., a provider of electronic commerce and payment services, announced in an Aug. 5 news release that it has signed an agreement to acquire Austrian Payment Systems Services GmbH, Austria's leading processor of cashless, card-based payment transactions. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

APSS provides the country's banking industry with debit and credit card issuing and acquiring processing, as well as card-network operations and ATM processing.

"We are very pleased that APSS' shareholders have selected First Data," said David Yates, president for Europe, Middle East and Africa at First Data.  "APSS is an excellent complement to our current European business and fits perfectly within our strategy of expansion across Central and Eastern Europe."

Under the terms of the agreement, APSS' headquarters will remain in Austria and the company will continue to manage its relationships with Austrian banks locally.

Completion of the transaction is expected to occur in the fourth quarter.