Payment services companies Voca Ltd and LINK Interchange Network Ltd intend to merge to create VocaLINK Ltd.
The combined company is forecast a volume of over 8 billion transactions this year. VocaLINK will be able to offer a broad range of services for both cash machines and automated payments.
“The increased breadth of the coupled product offerings makes the merged body competitive in the market place,” says a Tower Group spokesman. “However, the market has yet to see a bank move from its local processor to one based in a different country – only time will tell as to whether this was a compelling move for the banks.”
“The OFT will be studying the merger in great detail. Whilst technically it does not fall within its reporting requirements, the OFT has been studying retail banking closely for some time, and effectively created Voca as a function of the OFT’s governance review of payment systems.”
“The combined body will have a dominant position in payment systems, something the OFT might object to,” adds the spokesman.