Visa Inc. said Wednesday it has agreed to buy the e-commerce merchant processor CyberSource Corp. for $2 billion.
CyberSource, a Mountain View, Calif., company, says it handles about one-quarter of all online purchases and has more than 295,000 merchant clients.
Visa said the deal would play a significant role in its efforts to increase its share of Internet transactions, especially in the nascent mobile commerce space.
"Online commerce continues to grow rapidly, and this acquisition will enable Visa to offer new and enhanced services that will better meet the growing demand among merchants globally for robust, secure online payment processing capabilities," Joseph W. Saunders, Visa's chairman and chief executive, said in a press release. "And as e-commerce increasingly migrates to mobile devices, we believe the combination of Visa and CyberSource technology and services will position Visa to lead in mobile e-commerce."
The deal also highlights Visa's increased interest in online security. CyberSource is well-known for the anti-fraud and risk management capabilities it offers online merchant clients.
Visa has said in the past that fighting fraud at the point of sale was a key priority, but its focus now seems to be shifting to the Internet.
The EMV Integrated Circuit Card Specifications, which significantly increase security at the point of sale, have become widely used in other countries, and observers say this is driving more fraud to the Internet.
The deal is expected to close during Visa's fourth fiscal quarter, which ends Sept. 30.
