Niklaus Santschi used to run the payment services division at SIX. Today, his current charge, a German rival, has announced its expansion in Switzerland. The timing of this move seems interesting.
When Niklaus Santschi left SIX, the operator of the Swiss stock exchange, in 2015, he parted company with a division that had seen rapid growth. He moved to Germany, where he assumed responsibility as CEO of B+S Card Service in 2016.
He was hired to put the credit card service provider on a steady growth path and with the brief to digitize the company. In May 2017, he merged the company with Payone and the resulting firm was renamed into BS Payone.
Expansion Time
Now, Santschi is ready to expand with his business in Switzerland and has founded a unit in Zurich for that purpose, according to a statement by BS Payone. «We aim to expand our business markedly and intensify the contact to our customers in Switzerland,» said Santschi. The company has been active in Switzerland for the past decade and relies on what it says is a solid customer base.
BS Payone appointed insurance expert Matthias Malaer (pictured below) as country manager. Malaer started his career at Aduno card service provider.
Timing Is Everything
What’s particularly interesting about the announcement is the timing. The payment division of SIX, Santschi’s former business, is up for sale. A number of interested parties were mentioned in media reports – including Ingenico from France, First Data from the U.S., private equity firms Warburg Pincus and Hellman & Friedman. Another top candidate is Concardis, a German firm with a strong presence in Switzerland.
Tomorrow Wednesday, SIX will stage is annual conference in Zurich. Time for news about the sale of the payments division?
