PARIS (Reuters) – Crédit Agricole and Worldline announced on Wednesday the opening of exclusive negotiations to create a joint venture specializing in payment services for merchants in France.
The objective of the bank and the payment specialist is to try to capture part of a market representing a volume of turnover estimated at 700 billion euros with an increase in electronic payment methods to the detriment of cash.
The Worldline share jumped 5.66% at 08:00 GMT on the Paris Stock Exchange while the Crédit Agricole title took a more modest 0.44% at the same time.
Their joint venture, which should be operational in 2025 after a joint investment phase of 80 million euros, would be 50% owned plus one share by Worldline and consolidated in its accounts.
It would be based on the technological infrastructures of the payment specialist and on the territorial anchoring of the bank, which is characterized by a dense commercial network across France.
“This long-term partnership project combining our merchant services activities, would reflect our common ambition to create a major player able to provide leading services to French merchants over time,” said Gilles Grapinet, CEO of Worldline. , quoted in the joint press release of the two groups, saying that it sees in this possible agreement a “unique opportunity (for Worldline) to accelerate its geographical footprint”.
For Crédit Agricole, such a partnership “fits perfectly into the 2025 ambition (…) to grow twice as fast as the market” in the payment solutions business, said Jean-Paul Mazoyer, Chief Executive Officer. deputy of the “green bank” in charge of technologies, digital and payments, quoted in the same press release.
The banking group is targeting 20% revenue growth in payments by 2025.
Crédit Agricole had partnered with Wirecard in 2018 but this strategic partnership collapsed with the fall of the German payments specialist in 2020 following a financial scandal.
(Written by Bertrand Boucey, with Mathieu Rosemain, edited by Tangi Salaün and Blandine Hénault)
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