Voca and LINK announce intention to merge
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• VocaLINK to be one of Europe’s leading payment processors
• Banks and their customers to benefit from trusted payment processing, innovative services and shared knowledge
London, 6 March 2007: Payment services companies Voca Ltd (“Voca”) and LINK Interchange Network Ltd (“LINK”) have announced an intention to merge to create VocaLINK Ltd (“VocaLINK”). The combined company will be one of the leading payments processors in Europe with a forecast 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. Voca and LINK are recognised leaders in their respective fields. Voca’s world-class operations process 90% of the UK’s salaries and 15% of Europe’s automated payment volume. LINK is an international leader in ATM-based services and real-time transactions, operating one of the most efficient ATM networks in the world. Both companies are renowned for delivering excellent service to their bank customers. In doing so, consumers benefit from a reliable and secure way of transferring money between bank accounts through the BACS scheme and easy access to their funds through the LINK network. VocaLINK is at the forefront of technology. The two companies are already working successfully together to build the infrastructure behind the UK’s Faster Payments initiative that will deliver real-time payments to the UK market by the end of the year. The merger would create a payment processor ready to compete on a pan-European scale when the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) becomes a reality in 2008. The enlarged, liberalised payments landscape introduced by SEPA brings huge opportunities for banks and payment processors. When the merger is formally completed, subject to OFT approval, VocaLINK will have the range of services necessary to compete in this environment. Most importantly, at a time of unprecedented change in the payments industry, VocaLINK’s unified expertise will provide an outstanding base for innovation. With Voca’s and LINK’s complementary experience in fields such as mobile banking, international money transfer and online billing, VocaLINK will be able to offer a range of services that neither company could have developed alone. The first services from the new company will include SEPA-ready and real-time payment services designed to accelerate domestic and cross-border payments. The group also plans to use its combined network of partners across the telecommunications, financial, retail and public sectors to offer enhanced online and mobile services that will give consumers greater choice.
Current Voca chief executive Marion King will be the merged company’s CEO charged with
running the business. Marion has a successful track record in business management and
growth. Since joining Voca, Marion has overseen a corporate governance restructure, the
development of a new brand and commercial strategy, and the implementation of Voca’s
award-winning SEPA-ready payment platform.
“Voca and LINK coming together is an exciting prospect,” she says. “We’re already working
together successfully to build the UK’s Faster Payments system and the operational and
intellectual synergies are clear. The move will create the broad product portfolio needed to
compete in a wider European market in light of the introduction of SEPA.”
Under the terms of the proposed agreement VocaLINK will be managed through a new board
including independent non-executives. Peter Presland, LINK’s current chairman, will assume
the role of non-executive chairman. Peter has a breadth of experience in non-executive roles
and sits on the boards of three other organisations.
VocaLINK represents a dynamic development that harnesses leading technology, trusted
service delivery and innovation to meet the challenges of SEPA and will deliver an exciting
future.
Further information
Liz Barrass, Voca Ltd
0870 920 8097 / 07831 222 876 or liz.barrass@voca.com
Terence Gibbons, College Hill
020 7457 2020 or terence.gibbons@collegehill.com
Notes:
About Voca
Voca provides payment services to banks and corporates. Responsible for the technology
behind the UK’s automated payments, Voca has processed 60 billion transactions in the last 38
years. Voca is committed to and is actively supporting the introduction of the Single Euro
Payments Area (SEPA). Its payment solutions are already well developed to meet the
demands of this pan-European programme.
• Voca is part of the Critical National Infrastructure handling more than 90% of UK salaries, 70% of household bills and the majority of state benefits.
• Voca is recognised as the largest processor of direct debits and credit transfers in Europe, processing 15% of all European bank-to-bank payments.
• During 2006 more than 5.4 billion financial transactions were securely processed, reaching a peak of 80 million transactions on a single day in September 2006.
• More than 100,000 businesses connect to the Voca network, including all of the FTSE 100.
• Voca has four highly innovative payment services – OneVu (online billing), Digital Payments (mobile payments), Immediate Payments (faster payments) and Payport (international remittances). Please visit www.voca.com for more information.
About LINK
LINK is part of the Critical National Infrastructure, processing 3 billion transactions per annum.
It is the operator of the UK cash-machine network, one of the world’s busiest, connecting 105
million card accounts and over 60,000 ATMs.
LINK is active in promoting and delivering Europe-wide services for domestic card products to
meet the SEPA vision for ATMs. It founded the European Switches Forum, an association that
encourages interoperability between domestic ATM and point-of-sale processors. LINK has
also established reciprocal links with processors in the US.
LINK has diversified its service range and customer base through innovative technology and
commercial relationships - spanning the financial services, retail, telecommunications and
public sectors:
• Avantra, the outsourcing division of LINK, is the UK market leader in ATM outsourcing services. It serves a diverse number of payment channels including ATM, card and point-of-sale.
• The mobile phone top-up service leverages LINK’s switching infrastructure to provide pre-pay account top-up via cash machines. It processes over 15 million top-up transactions annually.
• MONILINK™, a joint venture with Monitise, provides retail bank customers with realtime access to their accounts via their mobile handsets. It has received international recognition at the World Economic Forum, Davos. Please visit www.link.co.uk for more information.