Visa beefs up its mobile financial services efforts with Fundamo acquisition

Visa Inc., a global leader in payments, announced its acquisition of Fundamo, a leading platform provider of mobile financial services for mobile network operators and financial institutions in developing economies. Visa will pay approximately US$110 million in cash for the company.

It also announced a new, long-term commercial agreement with Monitise PLC, a leading provider of mobile money solutions for financial institutions in more developed geographies.

The investments will accelerate the execution of Visa’s global strategy announced last month to provide the next generation of payments solutions, enabling consumers to transact wherever and whenever they choose, using a card, a computer or a mobile device. The combination of acquiring Fundamo and expanding the relationship with Monitise will enable Visa to deliver best-in-class mobile financial services and payments capabilities to consumers across the full spectrum of uses, geographies and mobile environments from basic services on simple handsets to more advanced services for smart phone owners.

Fundamo’s platform enables the delivery of mobile financial services to unbanked and under-banked consumers around the world – including person-to-person payment, airtime top-up, bill payment and branchless banking services.

The combined Visa Fundamo platform will add enhanced functionality and new services to existing mobile financial services subscribers across Africa, Asia and Latin America for safe, reliable and globally accepted payments solutions.

Privately held, Cape Town, South Africa-based Fundamo has more than 50 active mobile financial services deployments across more than 40 countries, including 27 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Fundamo’s deployments currently have a base of more than five million registered subscribers and the potential to reach more than 180 million consumers with mobile financial services.