Worldline, the European leader in the payments and transactional services industry and #4 player worldwide, today announces the completion of its acquisition of Axepta Italy, as part of its European consolidation strategy.
Axepta Italy is one of the largest bank-owned acquirers in the country, with c. 200 million acquiring transactions per year (c. 5% market share in MSV) from a c. 220,000 POS acceptance network.
Axepta’s highly diversified and loyal customer portfolio of ca. 37,000 merchants will be integrated into Worldline’s global Merchant Services customer base.
„The acquisition of 80% of Axepta Italy, a significant bank acquirer in the country, and the set-up of a strategic partnership with BNL in Merchant Services in Italy are part of Worldline’s strategy to expand its presence across Europe through partnerships with leading financial institutions,” according to the press release.
It follows the acquisition of Handelsbanken’s card-acquiring activities in the Nordics, the acquisition of Cardlink and the agreement for the acquisition of Eurobank Merchant Acquiring activities in Greece.
Being the third largest euro economies in Europe with a cash penetration that remains high, Italy region represents a highly attractive and strategic market driven by the shift from cash to card and electronic payment adoption, supported by a solid acceptance network and one of the highest POS density per habitants in Europe.
Axepta Italy and the partnership with BNL „are the ideal cornerstone for Worldline to expand its Merchant Services activities in one of the most attractive payment market in Europe with significant growth and synergies opportunities,” the company says.
As part of the transaction, Worldline will enter in a long-term commercial partnership with BNL aiming at leveraging its strong banking network as a key commercial channel.
In the continuity of Worldline’s existing partnerships with more than 17 banks and banking federations (regrouping c. 100 adherents) in Italy, the creation of a joint venture with BNL (BNL retaining a 20% ownership in Axepta Italy) is also designed to be an open vehicle for welcoming existing partners and other Italian banks.
Starting immediately, more than 100 payment experts will be integrated into the global team of 20,000 Worldliners. Worldline has a successful track record of building partnerships with leading banks in the merchant acquiring space, e.g. ANZ Bank in Australia or Komercni Banka in the Czech Republic.
Banking 4.0 – „how was the experience for you”
„So many people are coming here to Bucharest, people that I see and interact on linkedin and now I get the change to meet them in person. It was like being to the Football World Cup but this was the World Cup on linkedin in payments and open banking.”
Many more interesting quotes in the video below:
