- Latest acquisition accelerates Paysafe's growth in Germany and other key markets where consumers continue to move away from the legacy banking system.
- viafintech shareholders Glory Ltd and GRENKE BANK AG to continue partnering with Paysafe post sale.
Paysafe (NYSE:PSFE) ("the Company"), a leading specialized payments platform, today announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire market-leading German fintech company, viafintech, in an all-cash transaction. viafintech, known under the brands of Barzahlen/viacash and viacash, offers the largest, bank independent, payments infrastructure in the DACH region, allowing a popular alternative to the traditional banking structure. For Paysafe, this latest acquisition not only boosts its growth opportunities in Germany, a critical market for its international merchants, it also creates revenue-generating opportunities to cross-sell viafintech's alternative banking and payments solutions to its merchants around the world.
Paysafe's core purpose is to enable businesses and consumers to connect and transact seamlessly through industry-leading capabilities in payment processing, digital wallets, eCash and open banking solutions. It offers over 70 payment types in over 40 currencies around the world.
viafintech was founded in 2011 and integrates with digital banking apps to offer an innovative "mobile ATM" concept which enables consumers to make deposits or withdraw cash from their digital bank accounts at a nearby retail store using a barcode; something that is becoming increasingly popular in the region as bricks and mortar bank branches close and fast-growing challenger banks and digital wallets disrupt the market. viafintech solutions are also used widely for bill payments and credit payouts, as well as for online shopping in general, supporting millions of consumers in the region who don't have bank accounts, or who simply prefer the heightened security of using eCash to pay online.
Headquartered in Germany, where it has a market leading position, it also has a presence in an additional five European countries with plans to expand further. It operates via a network of 20,000 points of sale with over 20 well-known retail partners, and also has deep relationships in the banking, bill payments and eCommerce industries.
The combination of viafintech's established banking framework and market leadership in Germany and elsewhere in Europe, together with Paysafe's diverse payments portfolio and international merchant base, is expected to create compelling growth opportunities for each organisation, both within Europe and beyond.
As part of the deal, the viafintech team, including viafintech's managing directors, Sebastian Seifert, Achim Bönsch and Andreas Veller, will become part of Paysafe's expanding eCash and open banking solutions' team which is headed up by Paysafe eCash CEO, Udo Müller
This latest acquisition builds on Paysafe's recent Latin American acquisition agreements with PagoEfectivo and SafetyPay and allows Paysafe to solidify its position as a global market leader for eCash and open banking solutions where multiple payments players are competing to gain a stronger foothold in the emerging open banking ecosystem and the provision of alternative payment methods (APMs). On completion of the three acquisitions, the Paysafe eCash business will be able to offer eCash and open banking solutions in over 60 countries with over one million distribution points.
Following the sale of their shares to Paysafe, viafintech's majority shareholder Glory Ltd., a global leader in cash technology solutions will enter into a new strategic partnership with Paysafe. The two companies have signed a referral agreement that enables Glory to offer paysafecard, one of Paysafe's leading eCash solutions, as a form of payment within its in-store payments kiosks, and, in turn, for Paysafe to offer Glory's cash technology solutions to its merchants around the world.
Meanwhile, GRENKE BANK AG, which has been providing viafintech's German bank license and proven regulatory framework since 2017, as well as being a shareholder of the company, will continue to provide the same banking service going forward.
Udo Müller, CEO, Paysafe eCash and Open Banking, commented:
"We are very excited to welcome a star player like viafintech into the Paysafe family. We believe the team are perfectly positioned to take advantage of the shift away from the legacy banking system in Germany and beyond as more and more challenger banks enter the market and consumers opt to use mobile-based solutions for banking and payments. By combining viafintech's leading solutions with our existing eCash and APM portfolio, we are well positioned as an essential payments partner to challenger banks around the world as consumer banking habits continue to evolve."
Sebastian Seifert, Co-founder and Managing Director of viafintech, added:
"We are delighted to become part of the Paysafe Group and believe this move will enable us to build on our business achievements to date and accelerate our future growth as Europe's number one, non-banking, cash-in cash-out infrastructure, further fuelling the shift away from legacy banking and driving more financial inclusion in general."
The transaction is expected to close over the coming months, subject to customary closing conditions and in accordance with applicable laws and regulations. Until that time, the two organisations will continue to operate independently.
Notes to editors:
About Paysafe Limited
Paysafe Limited ("Paysafe") (NYSE:PSFE) (PSFE.WS) is a leading specialised payments platform. Its core purpose is to enable businesses and consumers to connect and transact seamlessly through industry-leading capabilities in payment processing, digital wallet, and online cash solutions. With over 20 years of online payment experience, an annualised transactional volume of US $92 billion in 2020, and approximately 3,400 employees located in 12+ global locations, Paysafe connects businesses and consumers across 70 payment types in over 40 currencies around the world. Delivered through an integrated platform, Paysafe solutions are geared toward mobile-initiated transactions, real-time analytics and the convergence between brick-and-mortar and online payments. Further information is available at www.paysafe.com.
About Paysafe's eCash Division
Paysafe is a global market leader in the provision of eCash payment solutions. The goal of its eCash division is to target simple and secure online transactions through prepaid and online cash solutions. Today, it is available to purchase in over 650,000 sales outlets in over 50 countries and its brands include paysafecard, paysafecard account, paysafecard Mastercard and Paysafecash.
Its original product, paysafecard, uses a 16-digit PIN and enables customers to shop online without using an account or credit card, protecting their confidential financial information. In 2018, the paysafecard team developed Paysafecash allowing customers to shop online first and then pay securely for their purchases with cash at convenient, nearby payment points. Paysafecash is already available in nearly 30 countries. In 2020, paysafecard and Paysafecash reached a transaction volume of more than US$ 4.6 billion.
For more information, please go to www.paysafecard.com
About viafintech
viafintech was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Berlin, Germany. It is led by Achim Bönsch, Sebastian Seifert, Junichi Takemura and Andreas Veller.
The company integrates with digital banking apps to offer an innovative "mobile ATM" concept which enables consumers to make deposits, transfers or withdraw cash from their digital bank accounts at a nearby retail store using a barcode. viafintech solutions are also used widely for bill payments and credit payouts, as well as for online shopping in general, supporting millions of consumers in the region who don't have bank accounts, or who simply prefer the heightened security of using eCash to pay online.
A market leader in Germany, viafintech also has a presence in five other European countries where it is known under the brands of Barzahlen/viacash (in Germany and Austria), and viacash (in Switzerland, Italy, Greece and Spain). It operates via a network of 20,000 points of sale with over 20 well-known retail partners including REWE, Rossmann, dm, PENNY, BILLA, SBB, Carrefour Italy and Bonpreu. It also has deep relationships in the banking, bill payments and eCommerce industries.
viafintech is a private company backed by various shareholders including Glory Ltd. and GRENKE Bank AG.
About GLORY
As a global leader in cash technology solutions, we provide the financial, retail, QSR, cash center and gaming industries with confidence that their cash is protected and always working to help build a stronger business.
Our cash automation technologies and process engineering services help businesses in more than 100 countries optimize the handling, movement and management of cash. While we span the globe, we personally engage with each customer to address their unique challenges and goals enhancing staff efficiency, reducing operating costs and enabling a more rewarding customer experience.
Employing over 11,000 professionals worldwide with dedicated R&D and manufacturing facilities across the world, GLORY is built on a rich customer-focused, technology-driven heritage spanning almost a hundred years.
For further information please visit www.glory-global.com or follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/glory_global.
About GRENKE
The GRENKE Group (GRENKE) is a global financing partner for small and medium-sized companies. As a one-stop shop for customers, GRENKE's products range from flexible small-ticket leasing and demand-driven bank products to convenient factoring. Fast and easy processing and personal contact with customers and partners are at the centre of GRENKE's activities.
Founded in 1978 in Baden-Baden, the Group operates in 33 countries and employs more than 1,800 staff (full-time equivalents) worldwide. GRENKE shares are listed in the SDAX on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange (ISIN DE000A161N30).
Forward-looking Statements
This press release includes "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are provided for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to serve as, and must not be relied on by any investor as, a guarantee, an assurance, or a definitive statement of fact or probability. Paysafe Limited's ("Paysafe," "PSFE" or the "Company") actual results may differ from their expectations and estimates and, consequently, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as predictions of future events. Words such as "anticipate," "appear," "approximate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "foresee," "guidance," "intends," "may," "might," "plan," "possible," "potential," "seek," "should," "would" and variations of such words and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking.
These forward-looking statements involve significant risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially, and potentially adversely, from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements. While the Company believes its assumptions concerning future events are reasonable, a number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected, including, but not limited to: the timing and satisfaction of closing conditions in connection with the transaction, the possibility that the transaction may not close, economic and political conditions in the global markets in which we operate, the possibility that integration following the transaction may be more difficult than expected.; and other factors included in the "Risk Factors" in our Form 20-F and in other filings we make with the SEC, which are available at https://www.sec.gov. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance upon any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made. The Company expressly disclaims any obligations or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in their expectations with respect thereto or any change in events, conditions, or circumstances on which any statement is based, except as required by law.
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Contacts:
Media enquiries Paysafe
Kate Aldridge
Kate.aldridge@paysafe.com
+44 (0) 750 0797547
Media enquiries viafintech (German press only)
Ulrike Czekay
Ulrike.czekay@viafintech.com
+49 163 741 3434
Investor enquiries Paysafe
Kirsten Nielsen
kirsten.nielsen@paysafe.com
+1 (646) 901-3140
