British banking system ends up with the US
MasterCard has said “that will do nicely” to itself and is going to spend up to $1.14 billion on buying a majority stake of a crucial part of the UK’s payments infrastructure.
Up for grabs is VocaLink runs Link, the network that provides interoperability between British ATMs, as well as BACS, the clearing house for payments between bank accounts, and Faster Payments, the inter-bank transfer system for Internet and telephone-based payments.
According to MasterCard the deal would create “the first true combination of the traditional person-to-merchant cards business with a clearing business”. That is, of course, presuming it clears regulatory scrutiny. It is responsible for processing more than 90 percent of British salaries and over 70 percent of British household bills. It also handles almost all state-issued benefits.
