News

TSA to buy German e-payment systems provider

May 14, 2006

OMAHA, Neb. - Transaction Systems Architects Inc., provider of ACI Worldwide-branded enterprise electronic-payments solutions, is expected to acquire Frankfurt, Germany-based Electronic Payment Systems AG, provider of e-payment systems in Germany and Switzerland. According to a news release, the $35.9 million deal ties in with TSA's global-growth initiative. EPS is expected, like other companies TSA has acquired, to become part of ACI Worldwide.

Solutions in the EPS portfolio include e-payment software, testing and simulation tools, chargeback management, and outsourced services. EPS has operations in Germany, the United Kingdom, Romania and Switzerland. The company was founded in December 1998.

"The acquisition of EPS complements TSA's growth strategy by expanding our distribution into the important German market," TSA chief executive Philip G. Heasley said. "EPS brings us in-market leading payments technology, additional infrastructure solutions and talented open-systems development people."

TSA's recently published 2006 Electronic Payments Market Study and Forecast, developed in conjunction with Global Insights Inc., found Germany to be the third-largest e-payments market in the world, and is expected to grow significantly in the coming years. (Read also, E-payments expected to double by 2010.)

"In addition, with the advent of the SEPA initiative, we believe that the German market and many other countries in the European Economic Community are poised for a significant payment-systems replacement cycle," Heasley said. "The acquisition of EPS will position us to take advantage of opportunities in this key market."

EPS's solutions have streamlined e-payments to enable a better ROI and time-to-market. EPS customers include ATOS Worldline Processing, CardProcess, Citibank, Commerzbank, Citibank Card Acceptance Germany, BNP Paribas, Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank, Pluscard, UBS and Visa International.

"They bring us complementary open-systems payment solutions," Heasley said of the EPS acquisition. "It will also create a platform for us to cross-sell new, value-added payment solutions into the EPS customer base."

EPS's Romanian development center will become part of TSA's offshore development group and is expected to eventually become part of an initiative to establish a global product-development presence based in Ireland.