Mastercard has agreed to buy Transactis, a platform that helps businesses deliver bills and receive payments. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The world may be going digital, but 44% of the 15 billion bills that Americans pay every year are still made by paper cheque or cash. And people who do pay bills online do so in different ways, via banking applications or billers' sites.
Last year Mastercard set out to address the issue, unveiling APIs that let banks offer customers the ability to manage and pay bills such as utilities and rent through their banking apps.
Now the payments giant is strengthening its position with Transactis, which provides a flexible digital service that helps even the smallest businesses support online bill pay. The company, which currently counts several banks among its investors, claims to deliver its technology to millions of businesses through a network of banks and other service providers.
Colleen Taylor, EVP, new payment platforms, North America, Mastercard, says: "We see Transactis as strengthening our support of the bill payments space.
"Transactis’ technical and commercial know-how, combined with our reach and comprehensive payment options will greatly simplify the entire process. We’ll be able to deliver a better real-time consumer experience, from sign-up to viewing and paying bills, leveraging the investments that have been made in the core infrastructure."