Successful closing: payment service provider PAYONE has a new shareholder structure – leading partner for merchant customers specialising in business operations in Germany and Austria

The completion of this transaction will also usher in an adjustment to the PAYONE shareholder structure: As part of such contribution, Worldline Group’s is to hold a 60 per cent stake, with the DSV Group holding 40 per cent (previously 48 per cent) of PAYONE. Important decisions will still be reached by means of consensus among both parties.

Clear allocation of responsibilities within the DACH region – Germany, Austria, Switzerland
 

PAYONE will operate as an independent joint venture within Worldline and is part of Worldline’s Merchant Service division. In the context of the reorganisation of PAYONE’s scope, the service portfolio will focus in future on Germany and Austria: With the associated takeover of the German and Austrian merchant operations from Worldline, their further development will take place under the PAYONE brand umbrella. As part of this transaction, Worldline also integrates Payone’s merchant services business in Switzerland. As a leading payment provider and omni-channel specialist, PAYONE will focus on merchant customers – across all service sectors – specialising in future in business operations throughout Germany and Austria. The objectives of this systematic realignment and the related consolidation of the country-specific allocation of responsibilities are to intensify the focus on customer service as well as enhance the respective service portfolio to reflect local needs.

Continuity in PAYONE management

PAYONE’s management structure, which was jointly appointed by Worldline and the DSV Group, will still be headed by Niklaus Santschi, CEO, and remain otherwise unchanged: Niklaus Santschi is supported by Frank Hartmann, CFO, Björn Hoffmeyer, CCO, and Roland Schaar, CTOO.

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Comments on the closing:

Gilles Grapinet, Chairman and CEO of Worldline:
“We are very pleased with the closing of the transactions with PAYONE: Its strong positioning on the market, its significant potential and the opportunities offered by the new strategic partnership with the DSV Group, one of Europe’s leading banking organisations, all impressed us from the very beginning. PAYONE will become a key driver for Worldline and serve as a blueprint for future partnerships with financial institutions. German and Austrian customers – incumbent PAYONE merchants as well as those contributed from Worldline’s Merchant Services operations in Germany and Austria into PAYONE as from closing – all stand to benefit equally from the wide range of services, which are tailored to meet local needs and will be further enhanced under the umbrella brand.”

Dr Michael Stollarz, Chief Executive Officer of the DSV Group and member of the Board of Directors at Worldline:
“By strengthening our joint company through the incorporation of Worldline, Europe’s leading payment provider, we are creating access to global payment transactions as the competence centre for payment within the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe. This is characterised by ongoing innovations, accelerated digitalisation as well as substantial economies of scale. The collaboration with Worldline, combined with the offers and services of PAYONE, will have two benefits: first, even more customer support for the digital transformation, but also the associated first-class and innovative “beyond payment” merchant services, which will be trend-setting for our customers, the Sparkassen, when it comes to gaining and promoting loyalty among merchant customers.”

Niklaus Santschi, CEO of PAYONE and member of the Executive Committee at Worldline:
“With the successful closing, we are embarking on a new chapter of our corporate history. As a leader in Germany and Austria, together with Worldline, one of the most renowned and at the same time, largest global payment providers, we can continue to promote Europe’s unique network of Sparkassen as well as our strategic plans. This includes expanding our strong position as the leading payment service provider as well as being a market leader in terms of technological advancements by providing intelligent and innovative services that go far beyond just payment. We will use our decades of expertise and leverage the synergies arising from the merger to pursue further growth in accordance with our customers’ needs.”

About PAYONE

PAYONE is a leading payment provider in Germany and Austria. In stationary shops, mobile or online – PAYONE helps merchants and service providers address the challenges of cashless payment. As a full-service payment service provider, PAYONE ensures quick, easy and reliable digital payment processes. PAYONE develops customised solutions for all industries and sizes of companies according to the highest security standards.

The pioneering omni-channel concepts from PAYONE help merchants provide their customers with omni-channel shopping experiences. In doing so, PAYONE is pursuing the objective of enabling integrated payment via all touchpoints.

PAYONE processes over 3.8 billion transactions a year for more than 260,000 customers. Furthermore, with its more than 1,600 employees at six locations, the company also delivers many value-added services which extend far beyond the traditional payment business.

PAYONE is a joint venture of Worldline and the DSV Group (Deutscher Sparkassenverlag). The company works for prestigious global brands and small and medium-sized businesses throughout Europe, such as Deutsche Bahn, Rossmann, PUMA, home24 and Sansibar.

www.payone.com

About Worldline

Worldline [Euronext: WLN] is the European leader in the payments and transactional services industry and #4 player worldwide. With its global reach and its commitment to innovation, Worldline is the technology partner of choice for merchants, banks and third-party acquirers as well as public transport operators, government agencies and industrial companies in all sectors. Powered by over 20,000 employees in more than 50 countries, Worldline provides its clients with sustainable, trusted and secure solutions across the payment value chain, fostering their business growth wherever they are. Services offered by Worldline in the areas of Merchant Services; Terminals, Solutions & Services; Financial Services and Mobility & e-Transactional Services include domestic and cross-border commercial acquiring, both in-store and online, highly-secure payment transaction processing, a broad portfolio of payment terminals as well as e-ticketing and digital services in the industrial environment. In 2020 Worldline generated a proforma revenue of 4.8 billion euros.
worldline.com

About the DSV Group

The DSV Group is the key service provider of integrated solutions for the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, Germany’s market leader for financial services. It generated Group revenue of around €640 million in 2019. The Stuttgart-based company operates throughout Germany and has around 2,000 employees. The payment competence centre of the Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe is comprised of the DSV Group and its subsidiary S-Payment. It focuses on payment channels, digital and mobile payment processes for Sparkassen as well as their corporate and private customers, including contactless payment, mobile payment (“Mobiles Bezahlen” mobile payment app for Android and Apple Pay with the Sparkassen) and the e-commerce payment method. S-Payment operates as an integrated partner of the Sparkassen, including the payment cockpit with all its payment figures and the ensuing payment consultation for the Sparkassen organisation. In addition, it accesses new markets and develops innovative solutions for financial institutions and their customers, for example, by providing payment-related, added-value offers.
www.dsv-gruppe.de

Press contact:

Susanne Grupp
Lyoner Straße 9 | 60528 Frankfurt/Main
Phone: +49 69 6630-5132
susanne.grupp@payone.com
 

Press contact Worldline:

Susanne Stöger
Head of Communication Merchant Services
Head of Communication DACH Region
Phone: +43 1 71701 6524
susanne.stoeger@worldline.com
susanne.stoeger@six-group.com

Press contact DSV Group:

Thilo Weinert
Head of Corporate Communication
Phone:  +49 711 782-22736
Fax: +49 711 782-10-22736
thilo.weinert@dsv-gruppe.de