London-based payments platform Paysafe has signed an agreement to acquire German fintech company, viafintech, in an all-cash transaction for an undiclosed sum and will be finalised in the coming months.
viafintech, known under the brands of Barzahlen/viacash and viacash, offers payments infrastructure that are bank independent in the DACH region, allowing a popular alternative to the traditional banking structure.
For Paysafe, this latest acquisition not only boosts its growth opportunities in Germany, it also creates revenue-generating opportunities to cross-sell viafintech’s alternative banking and payments solutions to its merchants around the world.
Paysafe offers payment processing, digital wallets, e-cash and open banking solutions. It offers over 70 payment types in over 40 currencies around the world.
viafintech was founded in 2011 and integrates with digital banking apps to offer an “mobile ATM” concept which enables consumers to make deposits or withdraw cash from their digital bank accounts at a nearby retail store using a barcode.
Headquartered in Germany, it also has a presence in an additional five European countries with plans to expand further. It operates via a network of 20,000 points of sale and has deep relationships in the banking, bill payments and e-commerce industries.
As part of the deal, the viafintech team, including its managing directors, Sebastian Seifert, Achim Bönsch and Andreas Veller, will become part of Paysafe’s expanding e-cash and open banking solutions’ team which is headed up by Paysafe eCash CEO, Udo Müller.
This latest acquisition builds on Paysafe’s recent Latin American acquisition agreements with PagoEfectivo and SafetyPay.
Following the sale of their shares to Paysafe, viafintech’s majority shareholder, Glory Ltd., a provider of cash technology solutions, will enter into a new strategic partnership with Paysafe.
The two companies have signed a referral agreement that enables Glory to offer paysafecard, one of Paysafe’s e-cash solutions, as a form of payment within its in-store payments kiosks, and, in turn, for Paysafe to offer Glory’s cash technology solutions to its merchants around the world.
Meanwhile, GRENKE BANK, which has been providing viafintech’s German bank license and proven regulatory framework since 2017, as well as being a shareholder of the company, will continue to provide the same banking service going forward.
Udo Müller, CEO, Paysafe eCash and Open Banking commented,
“We believe the team are perfectly positioned to take advantage of the shift away from the legacy banking system in Germany and beyond as more and more challenger banks enter the market and consumers opt to use mobile-based solutions for banking and payments.
By combining viafintech’s leading solutions with our existing eCash and APM portfolio, we are well positioned as an essential payments partner to challenger banks around the world as consumer banking habits continue to evolve.”
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