11 July 2012 6:46am

AmBank Group in Malaysia will buy specialist credit card firm MBF Holdings and its Atox Cards and Jastura businesses for 623 million ringgit (A$192 million). The price agreed by AmBank - an associate of ANZ - includes goodwill of 411 million ringgit.

The expanded business will rank thirds in the cards sector in Malaysia on the acquiring side. (AmBank previously held only a minor share in the merchant market). AMMB pick up 36,000 merchants through MBF taking its merchant numbers to 45,000.

It will rank sixth on the issuing side. Citi is the market leader in the credit card...