Cartes 2011 Part 1 - V and I Continue Card Payments Consolidation
So Cartes has come and gone for another year.
In general terms, the show seemed more upbeat than in recent years (hopefully a portent of an improving economy in general) but the themes were less than innovative, which is not to downplay some advances in the underlying technology.
We will pick up on some of these themes in the coming days but, amongst the card payments fraternity at least, the major talking point was the continued expansion by acquisition of Verifone and Ingenico.
Ingenico must surely have thought it had stolen the show with its announcement that it intended to acquire Xiring just days before the doors opened. Although it appears, to this observer at least, more of a tactical than strategic acquisition, Xiring has made a big impact with card reading devices for non-payment applications and are considered a big name.
However, just hours later, Verifone (who once again chose not exhibit directly at the show) announced an $800million deal to acquire Point, the dominant provider of card payment solutions in the Nordic region and, through Point's earlier acquistion of Commidea and TS3, a significant player in the UK. This deal will have profound implications across the industry, broadening as it does Verifone's service portfolio while simultaneously narrowing the choice of hardware available to retailers in Northern Europe.
This may not hurt Ingenico in the short term but it does make Verifone's intention to compete as a complete service provider pretty clear. It is difficult not to see Banksys, Point's major supplier of payment hardware up to now, as the major short term loser.
As we have discussed before the continued consolidation in this sector is opening the door for new suppliers to enter and several - XAC, Castles and Spectra for example - were trying to make a big splash.