ACI Worldwide has agreed to acquire Cranium Ventures to add card switching technology to ACI Connetic for Cards.
Under the agreement, ACI will incorporate Cranium Ventures' microservices-based switching framework, known as SYNAP, into ACI Connetic for Cards, a product ACI launched in March 2026. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026.
Extending the ACI Connetic platform
ACI Connetic is the platform underpinning ACI's payments orchestration strategy, introduced in 2025 as a cloud-native architecture intended to bring A2A payments, card payments, and fraud prevention capabilities together on a single system. ACI's acquiring, issuing, and ATM and self-service banking businesses process more than 300 billion card transactions annually. According to the company, the Cranium Ventures acquisition is intended to bring planned card switching capabilities within ACI Connetic for Cards to market sooner than under ACI's existing roadmap.
Purchase transactions on global card networks are projected to exceed 1.1 trillion by 2029, an increase of 43% over 2024 figures. At the same time, financial institutions are operating a growing number of payment rails in parallel, while card authorisation infrastructure at many banks and processors continues to rely on architecture predating cloud computing. A common approach to modernisation has involved layering new interfaces over existing switching systems rather than replacing the underlying technology. ACI has positioned Connetic as an alternative to that approach, built as a cloud-native system rather than a legacy platform with an added interface layer.
Cranium Ventures' technology and background
Cranium Ventures was founded in 2018 in the UK and has operations in Singapore and Malaysia. The company developed SYNAP, a microservices-based card switching framework designed to operate in cloud, on-premises, and hybrid environments. Under the agreement, ACI will acquire Cranium Ventures' technology, intellectual property, and commercial relationships. In addition, Cranium Ventures' co-founders will join ACI as part of the transaction, along with members of the company's technical team, who have experience implementing and operating SYNAP at two large payment processors. ACI has said it will continue to support Cranium Ventures' existing SYNAP customers following completion of the deal.
Deal terms
Financial terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. The acquisition adds to ACI's existing acquiring, issuing, and ATM driving and acquiring solutions, and is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026, subject to standard conditions.
