Bank buys terminal vendor

By RICHARD BRADDELL

WELLINGTON - ANZ Bank has taken over New Zealand's largest point of sale terminal vendor, Eftpos New Zealand, in a strategy aimed at boosting its declining position in the eftpos processing market.

ANZ is the odd man out among the big banks in that it handles eftpos processing in-house, rather than through the joint-venture company Electronic Transfer Services.

The bank's share of merchant processing has slipped to just 13 per cent from 20 per cent two years ago.

ANZ's general manager of cards, Ian Colley, who took up the job on his arrival in New Zealand four months ago, said he had approached Eftpos New Zealand's owners with the intention of using it as the spearhead to rebuild and expand ANZ's position.

"I assessed the market and I knew we would have to do something significant," Mr Colley said.

With 36 per cent of the terminal market, ANZ is hoping that Eftpos New Zealand's merchant relationships can be expanded to provide an integrated one-stop-shop.

Wellington-headquartered Eftpos New Zealand is six years old and employs 160 staff. It has expanded services to include smart and loyalty cards and a new range of products is envisaged.

Although many merchants will opt to retain another bank as their prime provider, it is hoped that many will take the opportunity to integrate their hardware requirements with processing and clearing functions offered by ANZ.

ANZ has set ambitious targets, with Mr Colley anticipating it would more than double its 13 per cent share of processing, possibly achieving an overall market share around Eftpos New Zealand's 36 per cent within three years.

The price paid for Eftpos New Zealand has not been disclosed, but its founders, Mark Thomson and Peter Marshall, will stay on under three-year contracts.

The company was owned in equal parts by Mr Thomson and Mr Marshall and by private investment firm Emerald Capital. A further 12.5 per cent was held by Walker Datavision interests.