Mastercard, the U.S. issuer of bank cards, announced this week the acquisition of service provider payment DataCash UK for 520 million euros. Datacash develops and provides outsourced electronic payment systems and fraud prevention, opportunities for alternative payment and reconciliation services accounts.
The deal comes in a turbulent period for the U.S. giant. Like its rival Visa, Mastercard has lost almost 20% of its stock value in the second quarter. It just has to catch up. Investors have punished those titles because they fear that the reform of Wall Street, passed by Congress in June, weighs heavily in their accounts.
Congress wants to limit the fees charged by banks on transactions paid by card.Logically, the banks will seek to pass this shortfall by renegotiating their contracts with Visa and Mastercard. Committees should be limited next year. While regulators have not set the new legal amount, uncertainty will persist for Visa and Mastercard.
