The company behind much of the UK’s critical payments infrastructure is in secret talks about a £2bn merger with a state-backed Italian counterpart to create a European industry powerhouse.
Sky News can exclusively reveal that VocaLink has been holding discussions about a tie-up with Sia, reflecting an intensifying focus on consolidation among key players in the European payments industry.
A deal involving VocaLink, which is owned by 17 of Britain’s biggest high street lenders, is likely to attract political and regulatory scrutiny given the degree of sensitivity which surround the UK’s payments infrastructure.
VocaLink, which is an independent business, is responsible for delivering the Faster Payments Service and the Bacs service which underpin millions of payments including mortgage transactions and salary transfers each day across the UK.
Full content: Sky News
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