PNC bolsters payments technology with Linga acquisition

PNC Financial Services (PNC) has acquired US cloud-based restaurant point of sale (POS) and payments solutions firm Linga for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition expands the Pittsburgh-based bank’s digital resources, strengthening its payment capabilities by introducing Linga’s technologies into the bank’s ecosystem.

As a result, hospitality and restaurant businesses using either party’s solutions will benefit from both sides’ technology resources.

“Leveraging Linga’s proprietary solutions and PNC’s competitive treasury management platform, we will be able to provide our restaurant and retail clients with tools they need to keep up with ever-changing consumer expectations,” said Emma Loftus, executive VP, and head of PNC treasury management.

Linga provides cloud-based POS and payments solutions to restaurant and hospitality business owners, supporting their business needs with evolving technology. The group’s solutions include online ordering, payments, QR code-based menus, and virtual kiosks, among others.

Established in 2004, the company is active in 48 countries.

Linga’s founder and CEO, Onur Haytac as well as the management team will remain with the company alongside the US and Canada-based employees.

Banks take acquisition route into new sectors

PNC’s acquisition of Linga continues the firm’s ongoing strategy of acquiring firms to strengthen its resources.

In January last year, the firm acquired payment gateway provider Tempus Technologies. The acquisition allowed PNC to expand the treasury management payments platform to enable payables and receivables management through a single channel.

That same year in June, the firm incorporated the cross-border payment platform from BBVA to expand its cross-border payment capabilities.

PNC is one of the several firms turning to acquisitions to bolster their payment capabilities as they seek to capitalise on customer demand for non-cash-based solutions.

Only this month, JP Morgan and Banc of California announced their respective acquisitions in the payments industry.

JP Morgan acquired Renovite Technologies to modernise the bank’s merchant acquiring capabilities, while Banc of California entered the payment processing business with a $24 million acquisition of Deepstack Technologies.

Payments offer huge opportunity for firms

According to PWC, payments generate, directly or indirectly, between 20% and 30% of the typical bank’s profit, illustrating the need for financial firms to bolster their capabilities in the area.

However, a 2020 survey of 120 payments executives in 20 countries by Accenture revealed that only 13% of respondents had increased payment revenue in the previous three years by more than the average market growth of 6%.

Accenture also noted that only 16% were expecting to grow revenues at a rate above the forecasted market growth rate of 5% between 2020 and 2023.

Despite the bleak results, the growing digital payment market offers a multi-billion-dollar opportunity for banks.

A research by Grand View Research highlighted that the global digital payment market size stood at $68.61 billion in 2021 and is expected grow at a compound annual growth rate of 20.5% from 2022 to 2030.

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