FEB. 10, 2011 • Visa Inc. is acquiring the digital goods transaction firm PlaySpan Inc. in Santa Clara, Calif. PlaySpan is being purchased for around $190 million in cash, plus additional consideration for performance milestones. The acquisition is expected to be completed in Visa’s fiscal second quarter 2011 after regulatory approvals are obtained.

Impact: PlaySpan,had raised about $46 million  in the four years prior to the Visa acquisition so this was a nice payout for investors.  However, for Visa this is a fairly small investment to get into the growing digital goods business.  PlaySpan offers a service that allows users to select from a wide range of payment options to buy virtual goods.  What will be interesting to watch is if competing payment solution providers are attractive to such companies as American Express.  In the end, it could mean consolidation of payment solutions among a handful of providers that are able to handle the bulk of the background plumbing.