The second big spender in switching was Strategic Payments Services, a creation of ATM play Customers Limited and now owned by MasterCard, with Bendigo and Adelaide Bank the minority investor.SPS spent $20 million, and maybe a little more, on cracking the closed world of switching.The founders bought the Eftpos business of Bendigo and the ATM business of Bendigo, Bank of Queensland and Customers.Potential transaction volumes are 250 million a year as Bendigo and Customer steer most of their business to SPS. Recent transaction volumes are around 100 million a year, putting this market toddler at tenth position and with a market share akin to a rounding error.MasterCard and Bendigo value SPS in the mid $30 million range based on recent transactions between Customers and each of its two partners.The latter, under new management, realised the gain on an investment selected by what was itself once new management (and which five years ago converted a no-merit mining stock to a genuine play on the prospects from payments).SPS chose a modern switching platform, Postilion, a Windows-based system, as its platform. Postilion's supposed appeal is lower costs, comparative simplicity and an ability to service many markets, though whether it or SPS will ever live up to such high ideals is something MasterCard may be working on.MasterCard opted to install its own management at Strategic Payments Services after taking a controlling position in February 2009.Simon Stephenson, a local functionary, runs SPS. He replaces Adrian Cosenza, the former Commonwealth Bank executive first picked to implement the business plan.