Worldline completes a strategic partnership with Axepta Italy

By Joy Dumasia

Worldline, the European leader in the payments and transactional services industry and the #4 player worldwide, announced its acquisition of Axepta Italy. Effective January 4, Worldline has taken over 80% of Axepta Italy, the merchant acquiring entity of BNL in Italy. This partnership is a significant step in Worldline’s strategy to enhance its scale, reach and direct presence in a growing number of countries in close collaboration with leading local banks.

Worldline significantly expands its Merchant Services footprint in the Italian market, whose continued growth is driven by the steady adoption of electronic payments. Axepta Italy is one of the largest Italian Acquirers, with c. 200 million acquiring transactions1 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. Going forward, Italian merchant customers will benefit from the roll-out of Worldline SMB offerings and its local acquiring capabilities to provide a comprehensive European footprint for large international and national customers and the deployment of solid e-commerce and omnichannel solutions for best-in-class user experiences.

Starting immediately, more than 100 payment experts will be integrated into the global team of 20,000 Worldliners, contributing their specific market knowledge to accelerate the development of Worldline’s business in Italy while benefiting from the unique career development opportunities of the leading European paytech company.

Marc-Henri Desportes, Deputy CEO of Worldline, said: “Worldline’s raison d’être, or company purpose, commits us to designing and operating digital payment and transactional solutions that enable sustainable economic growth and reinforce trust and security in our societies. Through our new joint venture in Italy, Worldline will continue to deliver on our vision of a trusted, secure and environmentally friendly payments industry.”

Stefano Calderano, CEO of Axepta and Country Manager Italy for Worldline’s Merchant Services, said: “Worldline’s experience and expertise will make a fundamental contribution to improving and innovating the payment services offering for today’s and tomorrow’s customers, from small merchants to large multinational corporations looking for omnichannel payment solutions. In addition, the joint venture is itself an “open vehicle” to accommodate new Financial Institutions looking for access to advanced acquiring solutions while enhancing customer satisfaction and maintaining full control of the business relationship.”