Payments giant Worldline has completed that 80% acquisition of bank acquirer Axepta Italy to support its growth across Europe.
In addition to the acquisition, Worldline has established a strategic partnership with Italian bank BNL.
The development follows other similar activity in recent months, including 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.
Italy is the third largest euro economy in Europe and has high cash penetration and represents an attractive market for the shift to card and electronic payment services, Worldline explained.
Axepta Italy is one of the largest bank-owned acquirers in Italy, with around 200 million acquiring transactions each year.
Following the acquisition and partnership, Worldline hopes to expand its Merchant Services activities in Italy and seek additional growth and synergies opportunities.
The partnership with BNL customers will benefit from a payment products and services to maximise their sales and provide a unified experience to their customers.
Italy’s FinTech sector boomed in 2021. In the first three quarters of the year, a total of $524.4m was invested through 51 deals, a significant increase from 2020, where $224.2m was invested through 45 transactions, FinTech Global’s data shows.
Since 2017, a total of $1bn has been invested into the Italian FinTech sector.
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