Financial giant Mastercard announced last week that it has agreed to acquire bill payment processing platform Transactis. Transactis’ platform is aimed at facilitating the delivery of bills and payments via a simple-to-navigate platform. For Mastercard, this acquisition marks another step in its efforts to build its bill payment services offerings.
New York-based Transactis’ services come in response to a surprising reality in today’s digital-centric atmosphere. While online payment services have been growing, approximately 44 percent of the 15 billion bills that Americans receive annually are paid via cash or paper check. Those who do choose to pay electronically are faced with a wide variety of bill payment services, ranging from the biller’s own websites to the customers’ online banking application.
In response, Transactis seeks to utilize technology to aid companies in redefining their customers’ bill payment experience. The service simultaneously looks to reduce or eliminate the inherent inefficiencies that are associated with checks and paper bills. Transactis’ platform is flexible enough to be utilized by even small business, allowing billers such as school districts and property owners—usually unable to take advantage of online bill pay—to become part of the Transactis client roster.
Mastercard’s acquisition of Transactis comes after it announced its Mastercard Bill Pay Exchange last fall. This new digital solution is aimed at allowing consumers to manage and pay a wide variety of bills (such as utilities, rent, mortgage, telecom, credit card and more) easily in an integrated experience. Mastercard Bill Pay Exchange is currently available to banks and credit unions via APIs, allowing these institutions to offer the service to their customers directly.
By acquiring Transactis, Mastercard will be able to expand its bill payment offerings to include online banking applications and biller websites with improved end user interfaces, presentation capabilities and broader payment options.
Transactis had previously raised approximately $66.8 million in funding from investors such as StarVest Partners, Safeguard Scientifics and Compound. The financial terms of Mastercard’s acquisition have not been released. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter, with Mastercard Bill Pay Exchange scheduled for full launch by year end.
