MasterCard to Buy DataCash

MasterCard has agreed to acquire DataCash Group in a cash deal worth about $517 million as part of an ongoing effort to beef up its global eCommerce offerings and meet growing competition from PayPal, according to Bloomberg.

"The acquisition of DataCash will expand our already significant eCommerce merchant gateway presence in Asia and Australia to European countries and other high-growth, emerging markets worldwide," said MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga. “The eCommerce business is in an early stage of development when you get outside of the U.S., and even in the U.S. it’s in a relatively early stage,” he said. “It’s really not about reacting, it’s the opportunity we see in the eCommerce space for the next decade. The story of e-commerce is only being written now."