The management of Paymentshield, with the backing of HBOS, completed a management buy-out of its existing and founder shareholders in 2004, but industry speculation has now rumoured this partnership may come to an end, with HBOS reportedly looking for suitors to buy the insurance provider.
One source, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “I would not be surprised if HBOS did decide to cash in on Paymentshield. It did not bring anything particularly new to the market and did not offer anything different to what was already available.”
Tony Corrigan, managing director at Classic Network Solutions, said Paymentshield had surprised him with its relaunch last year. “I admit I have not heard anything about it being sold. However, when it relaunched last year, its offer was very strange as it went against everything that it said it was going to do.”
Another source, added his surprise at the insurance providers set up and market approach. He said: “Paymentshield has not shaken up the market as it set out to do, and there must be significant pressure on it from HBOS to achieve, so a possible sale wouldn’t surprise me.
“Paymentshield has had to be very careful about how it does business as it is on quite a few network panels. If it is being seen as being a driver in the directly authorised market then it could be seen as a conflict of interest.”
Chris Traynor, sales and marketing director at Paymentshield, refused to comment on industry speculation, a statement repeated by a HBOS spokesperson.
