The digital payment application Twint, so far a pure Swiss player, has been catapulted onto the European market following yesterday's deal between Swiss stock exchange operator SIX and France's Worldline.
The financial services provider SIX yesterday sold its card payments business to Paris-based Worldline, and in return is acquiring a stake in the leading European payment systems firm. This will also have major consequences for Twint, the digital payment application owned by SIX and several Swiss banks, according to a statement released Wednesday.
With Worldline, Twint now has a new and much larger investor, the Swiss company said. The French company will be taking a 20 percent stake in Twint. The previous investors will retain their stakes in Twint.
New Horizons
«Our new pan-European partner, Worldline, has been working hard on creating a cashless society for many years,» said Twint Chairman Søren Mose according to the statement. «This partnership opens up whole new horizons for the further development of Twint.»
Details of the new Twint stake holding structure were not provided in the release, but Worldline’s 20 percent stake in Twint will give it a lot of clout. Previously, Postfinance, SIX as well as the participating Swiss banks – including UBS, Raiffeisen and Zuercher Kantonalbank – each held a third of the shares.
