BankServ Acquires Magex P2P, Mobile-to-Mobile Phone Payments Business

As a result of the deal, BankServ gained a new client in Zopa, an online lending exchange with more than 90,000 members in the United Kingdom. Zopa's marketplace allows members to lend money to or borrow from each other directly in a secure online environment.

Magex's Mobile Payments product, also acquired by BankServ in the deal, is a next-generation system that lets mobile phone customers send and receive money by pressing a few buttons on their phone pads. The product is currently being used by Zafa Ltd. of Saudi Arabia as part of a comprehensive electronic payments network in that country, and BankServ is looking to adapt the same technology for use with mobile phones in the United States.

"The P2P payments business has a very promising future, so it's a very exciting area for our company to enter," said David F. Kvederis, BankServ's president and CEO. "As evidenced by the success of companies like PayPal and Amazon.com, electronic payments are becoming increasingly accepted as an important and convenient tool by the general public."

For BankServ, the acquisition represents one more addition to an electronic payments suite that already includes wire transfers, Web payments, remote check deposit, foreign-currency exchange, and international SWIFT messaging. It also gives the company access to the BACS network for ACH payments in the United Kingdom as a complement to its similar standing with the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA) in the U.S.

"We believe that with the acquisition of Magex Managed Payments Platform, BankServ has strengthened both its product line and its international presence," Kvederis said. "By melding a promising new technology with our significant expertise in the financial industry, we'll make sure consumers can look forward to some helpful ways to move money electronically."