Visa to acquire Fraedom to expand B-to-B services

In a move to support its business-to-business payments platform, Visa has agreed to acquire the software provider Fraedom.

Fraedom, which offers payments and transaction management software-as-a-service solutions for financial institutions and their corporate customers, has been a Visa partner for nearly 10 years. Fraedom technology currently powers the Visa IntelliLink Spend Management platform that has been in place for nearly a decade for commercial and small-business clients.

Bloomberg News

“Increasingly, businesses are replacing inefficient paper-based payment systems with digital tools,” Vicky Bindra, global head of products and solutions at Visa, said in a Friday press release. “This strategic acquisition allows Visa to offer a more comprehensive business solution to our corporate clients that is innovative, global, highly configurable and intuitive for their employees.”

Fraedom offers transaction management products and services, including expense management and accounts payable solutions. For more than 17 years, the London company has been offering its products to financial institutions, payment networks, processors, governments and technology companies worldwide.

“We couldn’t be more excited to join the Visa family,” Kyle Ferguson, CEO of Fraedom, said in the release. “The combination of Visa’s leadership, reach and deep knowledge of digital payments, coupled with our expertise in the B-to-B market for our growing customer base, will allow us to better service businesses around the world with fast, secure and robust commercial payments solutions.”

Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed, though global media outlets reported that Visa said it would pay 141.8 million pounds ($195.7 million U.S.) for Fraedom. The companies expect the transaction to close during the first quarter.

Related to the acquisition, American Express Global Business Travel made a recommended offer for Fraedom’s parent, the British business travel company Hogg Robinson Group. At the same time, Hogg Robinson agreed to sell its payments technology business, Fraedom, to Visa Inc.