Standard Chartered and First Data Form Merchant Acquiring Alliance in Asia

Standard Chartered PLC ("Standard Chartered") and First Data Corp. (NYSE:FDC), a leader in electronic commerce and payment services around the world, today announced they have entered into an agreement to jointly establish a new company to provide merchant acquiring services to merchants across Asia.

Headquartered in Singapore, the new company called ‘Merchant Solutions Pte Ltd.’, with its local subsidiaries in seven initial markets across Asia, will support Standard Chartered merchant clients with an expanded range of First Data products and services for debit and credit cards, as well as additional forms of electronic payments such as contactless and prepaid card acceptance. In addition, Merchant Solutions will provide sales support with First Data supplying front-end and back-end switching services.

Merchant Solutions aims to deliver enhanced payments capabilities to Standard Chartered merchant clients from seven initial markets in Asia including Bangladesh, Brunei, Hong Kong, India, Macau, Singapore and Sri Lanka by converting to First Data’s global merchant processing platform, OmniPay, in approximately 9-12 months. China and Malaysia are also priority markets. Standard Chartered and First Data intend to rollout the alliance to other Asian and Middle East markets.

"This is both a new and very significant relationship for us," said Pam Patsley, President, First Data International. "This agreement is the first of its kind for First Data in Asia, and we are both proud and pleased to build on the solid foundation we’ve established and to extend our footprint even deeper into Asia."

"Standard Chartered is the perfect partner to grow our mutual capabilities in Asia," said Nigel Lee, President, First Data International, Asia. "Standard Chartered is a strong well-known brand with an established network in more than 50 countries, and we look forward to exploring additional opportunities and delivering a broad range of product and service enhancements to Standard Chartered’s customers over time."