Canopy Financial, a company that creates products that help banks manage consumer-controlled health savings accounts, on Tuesday announced the acquisition of CareGain, a division of Fiserv, for an undisclosed sum.

CareGain is a mirror image of Canopy in that it creates technology similar to Canopy except that it assists health plans that offer their members the option of consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs).

Health savings accounts (HSAs) are tax-advantaged savings accounts that consumers can use to pay qualified medical expenses. Supporters say they allow individuals to take more control of their medical care choices through high-deductible health plans.

CDHPs make the insured an active participant in controlling medical care costs.

The acquisition of East Windsor, New Jersey-based CareGain is an effort by Canopy, a four-year-old VC-backed firm, to broaden its reach in the emerging consumer-driven health care market. It is also an effort by San Francisco-based Canopy to cover its bases in an uncertain market.

Health care has been one of the more hotly debated issues of the current election cycle. Senator Barack Obama and Senator John McCain, the two presidential candidates, have proffered very different health care plans that could have differing effects on HSAs.

Sen. McCain’s plan, which addresses coverage primarily through taxes and tax refunds, more closely incorporates HSAs. Sen. Obama’s plan focuses more closely on the uninsured.

“Both candidates are talking about using private health insurance to make health care affordable and accessible to Americans so we think both plans will benefit from consumer-driven health initiatives because they are the cheapest and most accessible,” said Vik Kashyap, CEO of Canopy.

The Canopy/CareGain combination will be among the leaders in its market. It will serve a number of the largest financial institutions and health plans, process one million consumer-driven health care accounts, and facilitate three million health care payments per year.

“The fact that an $8 billion publicly traded company like Fiserv chose to sell its assets to Canopy is testament to the fact that Canopy is emerging as one of the recognized leaders in the space,” Mr. Kashyap said.

Canopy, which is backed by Granite Global Ventures and Foundation Capital among others, has taken $23 million in the last eight months and $29 million overall.