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The FTC compliant is fascinating in how the Bluesnap execs stiff armed the requests from the Fiserv account staff.   While at First Data / Fiserv I recommended serveral times acquiring services for Bluesnap be ended due to a series of Bluesnap misbehavior and malfeasance.   Each time senior staff blocked my recommendations, apparently due to personal cronysim and financial relationships between Mr. Dangelmaier and First Data executives (Alledgedly).  The FTC did the acquiring industry as a whole a favor here, its regrettable Fiserv executives abdicated their responsibilities.

Excellent judgement by the Tyro Board rejecting several deficient flawed offers by Westpac. The idea a 20-year established Acquirer with a top tier modern technology stack and substantial track record and revenue steams could be acquired for about US$600 million seems laughable. What were you thinking Westpac?

Kudos to the Collisin brothers for addressing this layoff ethically and honestly, and admitting an executive MC level error. FIS deservedly lost 1/3rd of its market cap today, stock down 29%, over CEO / MC and Board level fumbles. Fiserv has thrown out 100s of highly experienced people out all year long, no senior exec courage or integrity to come out with announcement or admit their own mistakes. If you hold all the authority at the top, you have all the responsibility. The Collisons get that, bravo.

Lost on all the pundits and wonks commenting on merchant data breaches is one of the main contributing exposures merchants have created: Using the public internet for both store communications and payment card tranbsaction processing, and lack of encryption of the messaging themsleves and asscoiated payment card account data elements.  Culpable in this process are the merchant banks who continue to encourage and promote use of the internet for card processing without providing suitable protective services as part of their core offerings. While this strategy of use of the internet has obvious cost and service advantages, it comes with alot of exposure.   An alternative would be for retailers to consider both encryption processes and/or implementation of private IP data networks for POS transaction processing.

It is interesting that Visa keeps beating the other networks to the punch on these debit deals.   If the other networks want to break through they need to start to win some of these big ones with emerging companies.

Another typo in the first paragraph of this article too. Is anyone proofreading your material?

"The firm processes more than $12 billion in payments annually for over 4000 merchants $4 billion"....  What?

Leaving all that aside, the potential multiples on this deal and the all cash structure suggest Braintree scored BIG.

Assuming a net gross margin of 80 bp (on $12 Billion sales), the $800 million cash purchase works out as an 8.3 net-margin multiple.  The EBITDA multiple seems as if it could be 25-30x.

It's interesting that mainline bank and third party acquirers seemed to never get into the bidding, which is a real big mistake.  Most of the traditional acquirers are puttering along making use of archaic costly processing and accounting systems, making tiny tid-bit innovations around the permitters of their systems and services that have little meaningful effect on their market positions or long-term viability.

That would be "Palo Alto" folks, not Palo Aalto....

This could be a major development in the remittance business, particulary if they can expand overseas into places like the UAE.  First Data/Western Union and other remittance players should be very concerned as Paypal's online presence, and physical infrastructure with their Discover/Diners venture can really be a game changer in terms of better products at lower costs.

At what point are retailers going to realize using the Internet as the datacom solution for POS transactions is simply not worth the risk?

Wow, they have re-invented Paypal, restricted to Visa cards.  Yawn.