EFunds Corporation is to acquire ClearCommerce, a privately-held provider of fraud prevention technology for 'card-not-present' (CNP) transactions, including online and mail order/telephone order (MOTO) sales, for $19.4 million in cash.
The acquisition will strengthen eFunds' POS and online transaction processing capabilities and add a CNP fraud prevention offering to its toolbox. It will also expand the company's market footprint in the retail sector with more than 140 new customers in seven countries.
ClearCommerce software and systems are used by 80,000 businesses worldwide, including HSBC and Barclays Bank.
According to a 2004 Federal Trade Commission report, identity theft and fraud accounted for more than $50 billion in retail losses in 2003, and is a key priority for banks in 2005 as they look to shift more business online. The acquisition of ClearCommerce by eFunds ties in with bank demands for enterprise-wide solutions to broad business problems by providing a single source provider of payments software for both card-not-present and point-of-sale transactions.
Paul Walsh, chairman and chief executive officer of eFunds, says: "Customers can now come to one trusted provider for a full suite of fraud prevention and payment processing solutions to take advantage of the growing trend towards electronic payments."
He says the combined entities will provide customers with a rounded perspective on fraud detection, based on data from both ClearCommerce's FraudDetect database and eFunds' DebitBureau database.