Global Payments acquired ZAO United Card Service

Global Payments Inc., an electronic transaction processing provider, purchased Russian direct merchant acquirer and indirect payment processor ZAO United Card Service (UCS) from ZAO United Investments having completed a $75 million deal. UCS had $34.2 million in revenue in 2007, the same year it forged a 10-year marketing alliance agreement with Rosbank, a Russian bank with $16.6 billion in assets that provides UCS with Visa and MasterCard bank sponsorship. UCS also provides indirect payment processing services to more than 70 financial institutions and for more than 2,500 ATMs. Paul R. Garcia, Global Payments Chairman and CEO, called Russian to be one of the world's fastest growing payments markets and added: “UCS provides us with a direct merchant acquiring platform for long-term growth in Russia and a foundation for other direct acquiring opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe."