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The 130 Swiss banks who own SIX – and especially UBS – have long called for changes to the company’s financial structure. The reorganization in the wake of the Worldline deal should help satisfy some of these demands. However it is still not clear how the bank shareholders will benefit. There has been no information on who will receive the Worldline cash payment of 338 million francs, nor how much dividend will be paid to the Swiss company.

At SIX, the issue of a dividend payment is undecided, as was revealed last March. At the time SIX said that due to strategic partnerships the dividend policy would need to come under «critical assessment». To date, SIX has only paid out about two thirds of profit to the Swiss banks.

5. Key Payments Player Without Card Business

Despite the Worldline deal SIX remains, along with Postfinance, the most important provider in the Swiss payments system. The processing of debits and automatic cash points, the services for the Twint electronic payment application, the new e-billing firm Paynet and interbank traffic remain with the Swiss group. So the payment unit still exists.

6.  It's the Size, Stupid!

Credit card transaction costs have dropped sharply in recent years, and only high-volume providers are ensured a sustainably profitable business. The payments system sale needs to be seen in this context – with Worldline the new top player in Europe – and SIX hoping to reap rich dividends as a large shareholder.

Time will tell whether Worldline is indeed large enough to thrive, and prevail in the face of competition from the tech giants like Google, Amazon, Facebook or Apple. While they are not yet particularly active in financial services, it is only a question of time before that changes.

7. New Attempt at a Superbank?

SIX has always trumpeted innovation as a key goal of its strategy, and this is something SIX shareholders and Swiss banks have regarded as vital given the explosion in costs. Ideally UBS and Credit Suisse would like to see SIX build a «superbank» into which they could integrate their back-office functions.

The «superbank» is a pet project of UBS CEO Sergio Ermotti, and CS CEO Tidjane Thiam is also partial to the idea. Negotiations between the two banking giants have apparently already begun, and now it is up to SIX to pick up the baton.