Cuscal to acquire Strategic Payments Services

Payments provider Cuscal will buy Strategic Payments Services (SPS) after setting a goal to capture ten percent of the Australian digital payments market.

Cuscal's general manager of product and service, Adrian Lovney, told iTnews the deal was worth $37.4 million in all scrip.

Once the transaction is complete, Cuscal plans to merge the two organisations into one joint entity, targeting the mobile market, among others.

Cuscal is developing its redi2PAY application for Google's Android operating system, which in version 4.4 "KitKat" gained support for host-based card emulation (HCE). HCE emulates smart cards for wireless near field communication (NFC) tap-and-go payments.

The company is fielding redi2PAY as Apple launches its Pay service with the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.

"We believe that a combination of Apple’s NFC-based solution and Cuscal’s HCE offering will finally bring an end to the secure element wars and allow consumers to access NFC payments on the device of their choice at an affordable price point," Lovney said.

Redi2PAY can either be client-branded or used via an application programming interface (API). Existing users include Credit Union Australia.

The management team of SPS will join Cuscal.

The deal - which is subject to shareholder approval - is expected to be complete by the end of the year, Lovney said.