Mastercard said to plan £1bn Vocalink takeover bid

(ShareCast News) - US-based credit card issuer Mastercard has reportedly drawn up secret pans for a takeover of international payment systems provider Vocalink.According to Sky News, Mastercard has approached the board of bank-owned Vocalink about a deal that could be worth more than £1bn.More than 90% of all salary payments and virtually all state benefits are processed using Vocalink, which delivers the Faster Payments Service and the Bacs service which underpins billions of payments.The company is owned by 17 of the nation's biggest high street lenders, with Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland the biggest stakeholders.The news comes just days after the UK's Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) said banks should sell their stakes in Vocalink to help boost competition.Hannah Nixon, managing director of the PSR, said: "The evidence we have gathered shows that common ownership is hampering competition and the speed of innovation in the market. There needs to be a fundamental change in the industry to encourage new entrants to compete on service, price and innovation in an open and transparent way."