eONE Global, LP (
www.eoneglobal.com
), an innovator in identifying and developing emerging payment technologies, has completed its acquisition of the assets that comprised the M-Business division of Brokat Technologies (
www.brokat.com
). eONE Global`s newest operating unit, Encorus Technologies (
www.encorus.com
), will focus on driving the acceptance and usage of mobile payments worldwide.
The assets of the acquisition provide the foundation for Encorus Technologies GmbH (Encorus-Germany), located in Stuttgart, which provides flexible and open mobile payments software and infrastructure for Encorus` processing services business. Encorus Technologies Limited, which will base executives and primary operations in Ireland, offers efficient payment processing services to customers worldwide. Most of the existing management of the M-business unit team will join Encorus-Germany in their current roles and report to eONE Global Managing Director John Duncan.
"Encorus-Germany is poised to play a significant role in the next generation of payment innovation - secure, standard and simple mobile payments via any type of mobile device - from cell phones to Palm devices," said Duncan. "Encorus-Germany`s solutions provide merchants, carriers and consumers with universal, convenient and instant mobile transaction payment processing services available to anyone, anywhere, at any time. The addition of Encorus as eONE Global`s third operating unit positions us to take full advantage of the migration to mobile payments."
"We`re very excited to be part of the eONE Global family," stated Stephan Kruppa, executive vice president of Encorus-Germany. "We now have a more complete value proposition by combining our leading mobile payment software with eONE Global`s superior processing capabilities. This is indeed an exciting new step in building a community of mobile operators and merchants powerfully connected through a global standard for mobile purchasing."
Encorus will initially focus on facilitating digital content micropayments (smaller transactions of less than one US dollar or one euro), and secure Internet macropayments with debit or credit cards, expanding into person-to-person payments and point-of-sale macropayments. Implementations have begun in Europe, and will then move into Asia and the United States. By 2005, the Tower Group expects the number of mobile payment users in Europe and Asia to exceed 54 million.
Among the assets acquired in this transaction is Brokat`s secure, convenient and flexible PaymentWorks product family. Encorus` PaymentWorks software solution uses open standards and enables mobile operators to offer customers secure, easy-to-use mobile payment services. Easy to implement, PaymentWorks handles both micropayments and macropayments, and provides authentication and authorization services. Beyond those mobile payment capabilities, Encorus will be extending its software business into a broader payments processing platform. As an operating company of eONE Global, which is majority owned by First Data Corp. Encorus benefits from First Data`s global processing scale and infrastructure as well as extensive distribution channels: 2.6 million merchant locations, 1,400 financial institutions and other card issuers and millions of consumers. First Data also owns Western Union, a money transfer network with 117,000 agent locations in more than 185 countries and territories. By leveraging First Data`s scale and assets, Encorus has tremendous opportunity in point-of-sale payments and will also focus on efforts to establish direct routing and settlement for these transactions.
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