MasterCard mulls £1 billion takeover of VocaLink - SkyNews

Going to be interesting to see how a MasterCard buy out would foster innovation and competition in the industry given the relative duopoly in cards they currently have with Visa

I'm concerned that MasterCard don't have the innovative streak and they feel the need to buy it. I guess both Visa and MCI did the same to Monetise. They will flood it with their own people, make it corporate and then stifle any creativity. The good thing is most of the folks there are X v or m employees anyway.

The PSR is making a fundamental mistake in assuming that sale of VocaLink will improve competition and innovation. Its role as a shared infrastructure host is to provide the shared interoperability layer cheaply and effectively. Competition and innovation should occur at the individual bank level but doesn't because there is no marketing cadre with the knowledge and ability to make that happen. A sale to MasterCard will make their position worse and the PSR should avoid it at all costs.

This is intesting news considering Vocalink has signed up to deliver core elements for US TCH's RTP. This also shows card players feeling need to participate in real time payments boom worldwide.

No one sees a connection with ex MasterCard UK CEO being ex ex VL CEO?:)

I think Marrion works for RBS now for about a year.

I know. That's why the ex MasterCard...

I don't get the claimed "innovation" angle, how "un-innovative" does your business need to be to think that buying VocaLink will improve things!

As a means to try and get a foothold in the US Faster Payments initiative, it's a smarter move...