First Data Corp. (NYSE:FDC), a global leader in electronic
commerce and payment services, today announced it has made a strategic
investment in ViVOtech and will use ViVOtech's collection of emerging
technologies that include Near Field Communication (NFC) terminals and
mobile commerce enablement. First Data's investment will come in the
form of the company's participation as lead investor in ViVOtech's
Series C round of financing.
"We're excited about the opportunities in Near Field Communication
and the role it will play as we continue to expand our offerings in
this arena and maximize choice and convenience for consumers at the
point of sale," said Barry McCarthy, president of Product Innovation
at First Data Commercial Services. "As one of the many technologies
First Data will be supporting, our recent investment in ViVOtech
furthers our objective of bringing a new generation of terminals and
mobile phone-enabled payment services to our financial institution and
merchant clients."
Near Field Communication is a new short-range wireless
connectivity technology that can simplify the way consumers make
payments. A recent report by ABI Research forecasts NFC chips to be
embedded in 292 million handsets, or 20% of all phones worldwide, by
2012. NFC technologies will allow consumers to take advantage of new
mobile services such as cell phone promotions and loyalty programs,
over the air (OTA) provisioning of credit, debit, and stored value
cards, and contactless redemptions of coupons and offers at the point
of purchase.
"First Data's decision to take the lead in our Series C funding
round and support our collection of technologies that include
terminals, wallets and OTA provisioning is a strong validation of our
business, technology direction and our services," said Michael
Mullagh, chief executive officer, ViVOtech. "Given First Data's vast
global footprint, this relationship will help accelerate the
availability of these new services and the associated transformation
of mobile phones into portable payment devices."
Financial Technology Partners LP and FTP Securities LLC (together
"FT Partners") acted as exclusive strategic and financial advisor
to ViVOtech and its Board of Directors in this transaction.
About First Data
First Data Corp. (NYSE:FDC) is a leading provider of electronic
commerce and payment solutions for businesses worldwide. Serving over
5 million merchant locations, 1,900 card issuers and their customers,
First Data powers the global economy by making it easy, fast and
secure for people and businesses around the world to buy goods and
services using virtually any form of payment. The company's portfolio
of services and solutions includes merchant transaction processing
services; credit, debit, private-label, gift, payroll and other
prepaid card offerings; fraud protection and authentication solutions;
electronic check acceptance services through TeleCheck; as well as
Internet commerce and mobile payment solutions. The company's STAR
Network offers PIN-secured debit acceptance at 2 million ATM and
retail locations. For more information, visit www.firstdata.com.
About ViVOtech
ViVOtech (www.vivotech.com) is a market leader in contactless/NFC
payment software, over the air (OTA) card provisioning, promotion, and
transaction management infrastructure software, NFC smart posters, and
contactless readers/writers. These innovative solutions allow
consumers to make contactless payments with radio frequency-enabled
credit cards, debit cards, key fobs, and NFC-enabled mobile phones.
ViVOtech's products are used by some of the most prominent retailers
in the United States. Currently, with more than 250,000 units in 22
countries, ViVOtech's products are in use at movie theaters, fast food
restaurants (QSR), casual dining establishments, convenience stores,
gas stations, drug stores, grocery stores, buses, taxicabs and vending
machine locations, enabling a wide variety of businesses to accept
contactless/NFC payments. In 2007, ViVOtech was named #1 in New ABI
Research contactless reader ranking. ViVOtech was also recognized as
Top Contactless Payment Technology Vendor in Aberdeen Group's "Retail
Contactless Payment Report"; In 2006, ViVOtech was honored with a
MasterCard "Best Vendor Partner Award" as the first vendor to deliver
stand-alone contactless readers for MasterCard PayPass customers. In
2005, ViVOtech received the prestigious Frost & Sullivan technology
award for its role in transforming the contactless payment industry
and the first annual ETA Technology Innovation Award.
