Visa Buys Fundamo, Signs Long-Term Agreement With Monitise

Visa Inc

announced its plans to acquire South Africa's Fundamo, a leading platform provider of mobile financial services, for around $110 million in cash. It also signed a long-term agreement with Monitise plc

. The transaction is likely to close today. “Combining Visa's unparalleled network scale, global reach, extensive product suite and established financial institution relationships with Fundamo's expertise in delivering mobile financial services in developing economies presents us with an important long-term opportunity to grow our business and drive financial inclusion in key geographic markets,” said Joseph W. Saunders, chairman and chief executive officer of Visa Inc. “We are pleased to add Fundamo's industry leading technology solutions to our portfolio.” Visa also signed a long-term accord with the UK's Monitise, a leading provider of mobile money solutions for financial institutions in more developed geographies, to expand delivery of mobile financial services to banked Visa account holders in conjunction with Visa's financial institution partners. Visa shares gained 0.17% to $76.84 in after-hours trading. Read more