Worldline Obtains Controlling Stake in ANZ Commercial Acquiring JV
(6 April 2022 – Australia) French payments group Worldline has attained a controlling stake in ANZ's commercial acquiring business to complete the structure of a 51 percent – 49 percent joint venture (JV) that the company will control.
First announced in Q4 2020, the JV was positioned as a "unique opportunity" for Worldline to expand its merchant acquiring business beyond Europe with Worldline proclaiming that the enterprise value of the business amounted to A$925 million. Over the next five years, Worldline expects the JV to generate additional annual revenue of €180 million.
ANZ's commercial acquiring offering is the third largest Australian payment acceptance and acquiring business, processing roughly a fifth of merchant acquiring transaction volumes (20 percent). East & Partners Merchant Payments research based on direct interviews with 2,200 Australian merchants nationally reveals ANZ’s brand recognition is being rapidly eroded by the advance of non-bank competitors such as PayPal and American Express in particular, also impacting a further two Big Four Banks with only one Big Four offering managing to maintain material “mind share” growth since 2018.
“The Australian market offers an attractive growth opportunity driven by the shift from cash to card, pointing to a high level of electronic payments adoption and consumer use of contactless cards and digital wallets” Worldline said in a statement.
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