MasterCard £700 million acquisition of VocaLink

Overview:

• MasterCard has acquired a 92% stake in UK payments system company VocaLink for £700 million.
• VocaLink runs the UK's ATM machines, as well as Bacs, a clearing house for direct debit transactions.
• The company had been owned by a group of banks including Barclays, RBS, Lloyds, Santander and HSBC. The UK payments regulator the PSR had advised the banks to sell the business to encourage competition.

Sam Duke - Editor