US manufacturer of payments terminals Verifone could spend up to US$1 billion annually on acquisitions says CEO Douglas Bergeron (pictured). The vendor is looking at one US$500 million to US$700 million deal a year, said Bergeron, plus a number of smaller acquisitions in the range of US$10 million to US$20 million, according to Bloomberg. Europe is Verifone’s fastest-growing region but the vendor wants to expand elsewhere to grow its share of the mobile-payments market. “Our second-largest growth driver is the emerging markets,” said Bergeron. By 2012, half of the company’s revenues may come from emerging markets, he said. Another area for possible acquisitions is data services, he said.

Verifone has been adding the technical capability that will enable retailers to accept payments from mobile phones. Its technology already lets US retailers accept payments from the Google Wallet service. In the past, the company has not been averse to acquisitions to strengthen its market position. Earlier this month Verifone completed the purchase of Hypercom, a company whose technology enables secure electronic tranasactions.