HSBC Holdings Regulatory News (HSBA)

25 Jul 2006 08:19

HSBC Holdings PLC25 July 2006 HSBC COMPLETES PAYMENT PROCESSING JV WITH GLOBAL PAYMENTS INC. Following its announcement on 8 September 2005, The Hongkong and ShanghaiBanking Corporation Limited has now completed its formation of a joint venturemerchant acquiring business in Asia with Global Payments Inc. The new companywill be called Global Payments Asia Pacific Limited. HSBC has completed the transfer of its credit card merchant acquiring businessesin 10 countries and territories in Asia to the new joint venture. HSBC holds a44 per cent interest in Global Payments Asia Pacific, while Global Payments Inc.has acquired a 56 per cent stake in the new company following its payment of aconsideration of US$67.2 million to HSBC. Michael Smith, President and Chief Executive Officer of The Hongkong andShanghai Banking Corporation, said: "We have seen substantial growth in thecredit cards business throughout Asia in recent years. We expect this growth topersist as Asia continues to be supported by sturdy economic conditions andrising personal consumption. This joint venture will strengthen our capabilitiesin the card merchant acquiring business as Global Payments Asia Pacific willbenefit from HSBC's strong presence in the region as well as Global PaymentsInc.'s technological expertise." Paul R Garcia, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of GlobalPayments Inc., said: "We are honoured to have been chosen by HSBC for thisimportant joint venture. Having the ideal partner for payment card processingmakes our prospects for success in this dynamic and growing region even morecompelling." Headquartered in Hong Kong, Global Payments Asia Pacific will be headed by itsManaging Director, Ian Courtnage, who was previously with HSBC as a seniormanager within its card merchant acquiring business. The joint venture will havean initial complement of about 120 employees providing services to an existing base of over 45,000 merchant outlets. Global Payments Asia Pacific's board willcomprise three directors from Global Payments Inc. and two from HSBC. 1. The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation LimitedThe Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited is the founding and aprincipal member of the HSBC Group which, with over 9,500 offices in 76countries and territories and assets of US$1,502 billion at 31 December 2005, isone of the world's largest banking and financial services organisations. 2. Global Payments Inc.Global Payments Inc. is one of the largest payment processing providers in theworld, offering transaction processing products and services that manage,support and speed up the processing of funds and payment information. GlobalPayments has offices in the US, UK, Europe, Canada and Mexico, and assetstotalling over US$980 million at 28 February 2006. Global Payments is a leading provider of electronic transaction processingservices for consumers, merchants, independent sales organisations, financialinstitutions, government agencies and multinational corporations locatedthroughout the US, Canada, Latin America, Europe and the Asia -Pacific region.Global Payments offers a comprehensive line of processing solutions for creditand debit cards, business-to-business purchasing cards, gift cards, electroniccheque conversion and cheque guarantee, cheque verification and recovery, aswell as terminal management. The company also provides consumer money transferservices from the US and Europe to destinations in Latin America, Morocco andthe Philippines. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange