Payments company Planet has agreed to acquire high-growth payment solutions company 3C Payment. 3C Payment’s gateway, integration and terminal capabilities, when combined with Planet’s value added payment services, will create a unique platform in the payments sector, serving businesses looking to improve customer experience.  

With over 30 years’ experience, 3C Payment has a rich heritage in payment services, providing businesses in the Retail, Hospitality, Food & Beverage and Parking sectors with fast and secure methods to process payments in person or online. Today, 3C Payment serves over 11,000 customers in 47 countries, processing €22 billion in value from over 300 million transactions.

Planet and 3C Payment are focused on industries and businesses with complex payment requirements, and that have a need to accept alternative payment methods such as Alipay, WeChat Pay and UnionPay, in addition to global schemes such as Visa, Mastercard and American Express.

Planet provides specialist payments services to its customers, including value added payment solutions such as VAT refund and currency conversion, which can be packaged with acquiring services. Together with the payment gateway and integration capabilities of 3C, the combined business will be able to offer a comprehensive range of payment services to businesses that want to deliver the optimum customer experience.

“3C operates the world’s leading hospitality payment gateway and offers many specialist integrations to enterprise systems that our existing customers use to process payments,” said Patrick Waldron, Chief Executive Officer at Planet. “When combined with Planet, we create a new and unique proposition that simplifies the payment experience for merchants, acquirers and their customers. While the COVID-19 pandemic has left global markets in a state of uncertainty, this deal leaves us well placed to support even more businesses as demand bounces back.”  

“We’re delighted to join forces with Planet and create an integrated payments platform that amplifies our proposition and meets customers’ needs,” said Tim Goodwin, Chief Executive Officer at 3C Payment. “Under Planet’s ownership, 3C Payment will now be able to offer its customers acquiring services and revenue-generating products such as currency conversion and VAT refund processing, which are key to helping our customers grow in the long-term.”

This acquisition means that businesses can now work with one partner and use a single payment platform to accept complex payments whether their consumers are paying in person or online. The first integration is a high-value all-in-one revenue generating payments solution for the Hospitality and Food & Beverage sector.

The deal is subject to regulatory approval by the Financial Conduct Authority in the UK.