Credit card services provider MasterCard has revealed another piece of its e-commerce plan, with the acquisition of DataCash for about $520 million. The European payment service provider has a central accounting tool for consumers seeking a global payments interface, electronic payment solutions and alternative payment options.

Incorporating DataCash into MasterCard’s larger goals will align the credit card company with several current market tendencies, with a purchase price of 360 pence per share in cash. That represents more than a 50 percent premium on the acquisition. From MasterCard,

“E-commerce represents an important part of MasterCard’s growth strategy, and this acquisition will allow us to provide new services to our acquiring customers, as well as drive increased e-commerce penetration in both existing and new markets,” said Ajay Banga, MasterCard president and chief executive officer. “The acquisition of DataCash will expand our already significant e-commerce merchant gateway presence in Asia and Australia to European countries and other high-growth, emerging markets worldwide.”

DataCash also has built-in security measures and back-office reconciliation, acting as one of the major movements towards generating consumer trust in current e-commerce trends. PayPal, a US-based company that aided in this same movement, has been seeking ways to bridge the virtual and real worlds of commerce with its recent initiatives. This is being largely focused on the mobile industry, as apps have provided an immediately identifiable way to close that gap. From games to services, mobile apps will be a major global influence for virtual economic exchange.

The telecom companies themselves recognize the power behind the mobile industry in this regard; they’ve already made major strides towards becoming consumer “banking” tools. It seems like a silly direction to take, especially given the tendency for wireless service providers to rip off their customers. But an alternative payments system will attract a certain type of consumer, eventually steamrolling into back-end integration for such payment options through larger financial institutions or e-commerce gateways. And who knows how successful this particular trend could become, should the telecom companies leverage it as a positive step in overall improvement of customer service tactics?

I’m getting ahead of myself here, but it’s certainly something to think about. MasterCard has already opened its platform, encouraging developers to create applications around its credit card and financial services. Visa is moving right along these trend lines as well. With virtualization growing in varied directions and paces, and e-commerce steadily increasing despite a still sluggish economy, there are going to be some major upheavals and exploratory missions from major currency exchanges in the next 6-12 months.