Paysafe to acquire e-commerce payment platform SafetyPay for €374m

By Gaia Lamperti

UK FinTech Paysafe, a leading specialized payments platform, announced a €374 million ($441 million) deal to acquire e-commerce payment platform SafetyPay in an all-cash transaction.

Paysafe’s core purpose is to enable businesses and consumers to connect and transact seamlessly with alternative payment methods (APMs), using digital wallets, e-Cash and online banking solutions. It offers more than 70 payment types in over 40 currencies around the world. Paysafe’s original product, paysafecard, uses a 16-digit PIN for online shopping without the use of an account or credit card protecting customers confidential financial information.

The firm eyed SafetyPay for its unrivalled offer of Open Banking and e-Cash solutions, as well as its presence in Latin America. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021 and upon completion, Paysafe will have scale and a leading presence in Latin America’s fast-growing online markets and nascent Open Banking ecosystem. The company’s expansion in the region already started with the recently announced acquisition of Peruvian payments platform PagoEfectivo.

“We are very excited to welcome SafetyPay into the Paysafe family,” Philip McHugh, CEO of Paysafe commented. “We look forward to continuing to build e-Cash and online banking solutions across LATAM and beyond. Furthermore, by combining the capabilities and open banking network of both SafetyPay and PagoEfectivo with our existing solutions in processing, digital wallets and e-Cash, along with our deep expertise in specialized verticals such as iGaming, travel and digital goods, we can become the true market leader in the region and provide merchants with unique and powerful combinations to grow their business.”

On Monday, Paysafe also announced its Q2 earnings reporting a Total Payment Volume of $32.3 billion (41% increase) and revenue of $384.3 million (13% increase). Philip McHugh added: “We are pleased with the continued momentum Paysafe exhibited over the second quarter with impressive growth and several key wins across iGaming and other attractive digital commerce verticals, including crypto. Paysafe also continues to drive value across the other pillars of our strategy, including strong execution on our cost program and our recently announced acquisitions in Latin America.”

Together, the two acquisitions of PagoEfectivo and SafetyPay set Paysafe up to be the leading open banking and eCash solutions provider in Latin America, driving multiple cross-selling opportunities and enhancing the firm’s long term growth prospects.

“We are really pleased to expand our payment solutions across card payment processing, digital wallets, eCash and online banking payments with a strong foothold in high growth Latin American markets. We see exciting synergies in key industry verticals like iGaming where we want to win. From the start, we have had a plan to grow in areas where we can achieve scale through operational efficiency. It is great to see the team execute and create more opportunities for growth,” said Bill Foley, Chairman of Paysafe’s Board of Directors.

SafetyPay’s mission is to drive online payment inclusion for the entire Latin American population, enabling European merchants to expand their sales into new international markets. The company has now a presence in 11 Latin American and operates via an unparalleled network of banks, with over 90% bank coverage, and over 180,000 cash collection points, with 20,000+ of them in 7 European countries. It serves nearly 300 merchants primarily in the travel, entertainment, and digital goods industries.