Wellington Hds. Share Discussion Threads

[gibbs1] 31/5/2022 09:48

FINEXTRA

Worldline establishes metaverse showroom


Worldline has entered the metaverse with the launch of a dedicated virtual showroom to help merchants bridge the gap between virtual and real worlds for commerce scenarios.


The Worldline showroom is located in Decentraland in the Crypto Valley area.


It currently includes a 'merchant of the month' area, a coffee space powered by Payone - Worldline’s Joint Venture with the German Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe - for social interactions, a virtual event stage and a charitable giving platform.

Worldline is working with crypto processing partner Bitcoin Suisse to enable shoppers to convert fiat to the Decentraland crypto currency to ease the effort of purchasing goods and services at metaverse stores.

The vendor says it intends to invest "significant resources" to the development and distribution of Metaverse-related products specifically tailored to meet the needs of merchants within 3D virtual worlds.

This entails the design of metaverse white label stores that will include direct payment connections to Worldline Acquiring and all payment options.

Sascha Muenger, metaverse expert at Worldline’s Merchant Services, says: “The metaverse, and Web 3.0 overall, is without doubt the next step in the development of the Internet and it is vital for us to make sure we harness the opportunities this virtual world will bring.


Our plans also involve facilitating access for our merchant base and customers and providing a secure and seamless payment process in the Metaverse.”

[florenceorbis] 04/5/2022 14:51

Worldline partners with MYRA to deliver cutting edge customer payment experience for the hospitality sector

Banking ServicesCards and Payments

By NS Banking Staff Writer 04 May 2022

MYRA is the premier self check-in for online and kiosk solutions and a perfect fit for hotels ranging from upscale luxury to economic budget, be it part of an international chain, regional group, independent or boutique properties
towfiqu-barbhuiya-HNPrWOH2Z8U-unsplash

Worldline partners with MYRA. (Credit: Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash)

Worldline (Euronext: WLN), a global leader in payment services, is partnering with MYRA, one of the world’s premier providers of self-check-in solutions both online and at kiosks, to develop a state-of-the-art customer payment solution specifically tailored to the hospitality sector.

The solution will be showcased through a pilot project currently being undertaken with leading international hotel chain, Leonardo Hotels, encompassing over 200 hotels in 90 countries. The collaboration will see MYRA’s kiosks working alongside Worldline’s unattended payment terminals and acquiring services to help ensure every guest has the best payment experience.After the current hotel pilot with Leonardo, the new solution will ultimately be available and rolled out across more than 10 European markets.

Having worked together on various joint initiatives since 2020, one of the principal objectives of this new collaboration between MYRA and Worldline is to ensure that the customer will only need to interact with a single self-service payment station and deal with only one solution provider. The solution enables hoteliers to complement their existing pay at the desk and online payment offerings with contemporary self-service offering, thus delivering a frictionless, integrated payment experience for all their guests.

A key element in the collaboration is the need for an all-in-one payment terminal for the MYRA self-service kiosks. Worldline’s VALINA unattended terminal meets this requirement and can be seamlessly integrated into MYRA kiosks. In addition, Worldline acquiring services cover all hospitality payment needs such as omnichannel use cases, top ups, and allowing walk-in guests to check-in, thereby providing a much-enhanced guest payment experience. Thus, MYRA can benefit from Worldline’s expertise as their 360°payment partner.

The Covid-19 pandemic brought about a change in customer demands and needs – especially within the hotel sector. While some guests still prefer personal interaction, others are expecting convenient frictionless solutions that reduce contact with hotel staff while maintaining the same high service levels. To meet these needs, new solutions have become necessary throughout all hotel areas including the front desk, enabling self-check-in/out; through to the restaurant and bar with pay at the table solutions; and in ‘food to go’ areas inside the hotels, amongst others.

Chris Lanckbeen, Global Sales Director Travel & Hospitality at Worldline, said: “We are delighted to be extending our relationship with our partners at MYRA with this exciting pilot project. Together, our solution is very much at the cutting edge of what discerning hotel businesses are looking for, and need, in order to get and stay ahead in the dynamic hospitality space. It clearly positions Worldline as a key player in the self-service payment space for the sector and is a value-added service which neatly complements our WL Hospitality Suite solution.”

Jack Tan, MYRA’s Chief Marketing Officer, added: “By partnering with Worldline we can focus on our core business – the provision of self-service kiosk solutions, including all additional required features – leaving the acquiring services element to be handled securely and effectively by Worldline. This will give our hotel customers and their end-users the ability to interact with a single self-service payment station through a simple and individual solution provider.”

Source: Company Press Release

[sarkasm] 04/4/2022 10:40

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Worldline completes deal for controlling stake in ANZ's merchant acquiring business
47 minutes ago


Worldline has closed a A$485 million deal to acquire a controlling stake in the commercial acquiring business of ANZ, Australia’s third largest acquirer which commands a 20% share of the market.


The acquisition, which was first announced in December 2020, entails the creation of a 51%-49% joint-venture controlled by Worldline to operate and develop commercial acquiring services in Australia, providing the vendor with an opportunity to expand its business outside of Europe in a highly dynamic market.

Similar to Europe in terms of market structure, payment standards and technology, the Australian payment market has a high level adoption of electronic payments and is ranked #4 globally for payment terminals per capita, with consumer use of contactless cards and digital wallets amongst the highest in the world.

Worldline expects the alliance will grow revenue at a double-digit rate in the coming years through cross and up-sell opportunities in digital onboarding, alternative payment methods and fraud detection across the existing merchant portfolio.

With annual revenue of €180 million, the business runs at an Operating Margin Before Depreciation and Amortization (OMDA) of 20%. Worldline anticipates double-digit organic growth over the next five years with the objective to reach €25 million additional OMDA by 2025.

[waldron] 25/3/2022 11:27

Worldline: Morgan Stanley lowers its price target from 60 to 49 EUR.

[waldron] 19/3/2022 07:09

Consensus


Mean consensus BUY

Number of Analysts 18

Last Close Price 41,93 €

Average target price 70,22 €
Spread / Average Target 67,5%

High Price Target 100,00 €
Spread / Highest target 139%

Low Price Target 33,07 €
Spread / Lowest Target -21,1%

[waldron] 19/3/2022 07:07

PARIS (Agefi-Dow Jones)--The specialist in electronic payments
Worldline said on Friday it had little exposure to the war in Ukraine.
and its impact on international transactions.

Approximately 1.5% of turnover is generated in activities
related to Russia, mainly transactions between
Russian consumers and international merchants, said
Worldline in a press release.

[waldron] 02/3/2022 06:04

Invest Securities reaffirms its 'buy' recommendation on Worldline with a price target raised from 70 to 72 euros, believing that the payment solutions group "is in the process of restoring its image at the beginning of the year".

"After announcing the sale of the terminals business to Apollo at a better price and with a better than expected schedule, the group unveiled last week reassuring 2021 results and solid 2022 guidance," said the analyst.

"The financial communication effort (new KPIs) is also to be highlighted," adds Invest Securities, which leaves its estimates almost unchanged and points to an exposure to the Russia/Ukraine zone almost zero.

[grupo guitarlumber] 12/2/2022 08:09

Worldline close to an agreement with the Apollo fund for the sale of its payment terminals for nearly $ 2.3 billion -sources

[gibbs1] 11/2/2022 20:05

HomeNewsPaytechAlipay+ To Be Accepted by European Merchants Through Wordline Integration

Alipay+ To Be Accepted by European Merchants Through Wordline Integration
by Francis BignellFebruary 11, 2022

Further establishing itself as the European leader in the payments and transactional services industry and #4 player worldwide, Worldline has announced the integration of Alipay+. This integration will enable Worldline to offer expanded mobile payments and other digital payment methods for merchants in-store and online across Europe.

Worldline is the first acquirer to enter into a full-scale multi-country integration with Alipay+, a suite of global cross-border digital payments and marketing solutions operated by Ant Group launched in 2020. It supports a wide range of digital payments methods, including eWallets and bank apps, such as Touch ‘n Go eWallet in Malaysia, TrueMoney in Thailand, GCash in the Philippines, Kakao Pay in South Korea, as well as Alipay and AlipayHK in China.

With a rollout expected to start in 2022, the enhanced payments solution works with all Worldline terminals and applications and provides the same QR code for each new digital payment method. This brings ease of use to merchants as no change is required in merchants’ operations and the payment method recognition works fully automatically. Merchants also benefit from increased customer relations as online shoppers and travellers from Asia will experience a familiar, secure, seamless and entirely automated payment flow.

Merchants from all sectors, including retail, F&B and hospitality across Europe, can simply reap the benefits by upgrading the fully integrated POS and eCommerce solution from Worldline to enable Alipay+ acceptance, through effortless software updates with no additional investment.

Vincent Roland, Managing Director Merchant Services at Worldline said: “We are very happy to extend our partnership with Ant Group which has been a trusted partner for several years. We are particularly proud to be the first acquirer to form this partnership in Europe with such a globally recognised and respected brand. At Worldline, our key ambition is to create maximum simplicity for both merchants and their customers in order to provide a smooth payment journey. By supporting the acceptance of Alipay+, we will help our customers in Europe to offer Asian shoppers and tourists with a secure, trusted and easy payment experience.”

Angel Zhao, President of Ant Group’s International Business Group said: “Worldline and Ant Group are longstanding and trusted partners. Therefore, we know Worldline’s expertise will make a fundamental contribution to our mission of enabling European companies to reach, target and sell to global consumers, enabling payments, promotions and digital services with a simple POS and eCommerce integration. Alipay+ is a suite of innovative solutions already connected with more than one billion customers in Asia. It lets users interact with merchants, natively from their favourite digital payment methods, wallets or mobile banking, with a secure and seamless experience. Worldline is the perfect partner to leverage Alipay+ features to help European merchants accelerate their globalisation and digitisation journey.”

The integration is also part of Worldline’s ongoing efforts to reinforce its long-lasting global partnership with Ant Group. Worldline and Ant Group have been engaged in a partnership since 2016 and have together laid the foundation for merchants from more than 30 European countries to be connected to Alipay, thus already having benefitted from access to the growing number of Chinese tourists travelling to Europe in the past five years.
Author

Francis Bignell

Francis is a junior journalist with a BA in Classical Civilization, he has a specialist interest in North and South America.

[waldron] 16/12/2021 10:16

Invest Securities reaffirms its 'buy' advice on Worldline while lowering its price target from 85 to 80 euros, judging that it "seems difficult at this stage to identify the next catalysts that could allow to reactivate a positive momentum for the sector".

In an update study, the analyst seeks to explain the violent stock market underperformance of 2021 (-49 points) and concludes that the investment thesis is not modified (2024 objectives without much surprise).

"Sector derating is not supported today by tangible elements, as fears of disruption by new players are not felt, both in current performance and in the outlook of companies," he explains.

[waldron] 12/12/2021 18:27

Consensus

Mean consensus BUY

Number of Analysts 21

Last Close Price 48,13 €

Average target price 73,97 €
Spread / Average Target 53,7%

High Price Target 100,00 €
Spread / Highest target 108%

Low Price Target 38,30 €
Spread / Lowest Target -20,4%

[sarkasm] 07/12/2021 09:41

finextra.com

Worldline pays €256 million for 80% stake in Eurobank Merchant Acquiring
17 minutes ago
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Payment processor Worldline is to buy an 80% stake in Eurobank Merchant Acquiring, one of the main acquirers in Greece with a 20% market share.
Eurobank Merchant Acquiring manages 219 million transactions acquired per year representing a payment volume of €7 billion from a 190,000 POS network and a portfolio of 123,000 merchants.

The €256 million deal comes six month after the vendor sealed the acquisition of 92.5% of the share capital of Cardlink, a Network Services Provider for both Eurobank and Alpha Bank. Eurobank will add additional revenue of €35 million at closing with expected double-digit organic growth over the next four years

Gilles Grapinet, CEO of Worldline, says: "The combination of both companies will create a meaningful, comprehensive and leading position in the fast-growing Greek market that is driven by a steady ongoing adoption of electronic payments. This transaction offers attractive development opportunities for Worldline in the coming years, building on our direct access to an existing merchants portfolio with a full suite of end-to-end payment solutions.

Worldline is a relative latecomer to the Greek market noting Euronet (Piraeus), EVO Payments (National Bank) and Nexi (Alphabank) have all engaged in acquisitions of books in Greece that are larger than Eurobank's.

[sarkasm] 07/12/2021 09:08

Oddo maintains its 'outperformance' rating on Worldline shares, with an unchanged price target of €77.

The analysis office reports that Worldline announced this morning the signing of an agreement providing for the acquisition of 80% of the merchant acquisition activities of Eurobank, one of the four systemic banks in Greece. The transaction – which is estimated to be disbursed at approximately €256 million – is expected to close in the second half of 2022.

For Worldline, this operation is an opportunity to significantly develop its Merchant Services activities. "In addition, exposure to the Greek economy, supported by the tourism and hospitality industry, offers additional growth opportunities," notes Oddo, who considers the title 'cheap'.

[waldron] 28/11/2021 05:41

Cash losing out to digital payments


From cash to cards to contactless, these days, payments are all up in the air

Sponsored Article

28th November, 2021

Collecting the drinks, the young American woman at the bar held out her arm.

Flummoxed, the barman gave her a fist pump. No, I want to pay with my watch, she said. It sounds absurd now, but this scene was related to this writer by a relative and occurred just a few years ago. Payments have certainly come a long way in recent years.

In fact, it wasn’t so terribly long ago that credit card payments required signing a receipt with a pen and online debit card payments were close to impossible as Ireland had its own debit card system that no other country joined.

Today, Visa and Mastercard dominate, online services including Square, Stripe, PayPal and Worldpay are common, Google Wallet and Apple Pay are supported by a dizzying array of devices, and neo-banks such as Revolut and N26 are used by many for discretionary payments.


Ireland is not quite the leader of the pack when it comes to digital payments, but nor is it a laggard. According to European Central Bank (ECB) statistics published in July this year, in 2020 the total number of non-cash payments made in person in the euro area increased by 3.7 per cent to 101.6 billion and the total value increased by 8.7 per cent to €167.3 trillion.

For its part, the Central Bank of Ireland said the total value of payment transactions increased by 52 per cent in 2020.

Even France, where cheque books are still a necessity (yes, really), has seen massive growth in card and contactless (taken together, use has doubled since 2016), but Banque de France figures indicate that cash remains king, accounting for 59 per cent of payments in 2019, versus 24 per cent for cards and 3 per cent for all other payment methods from cheques to mobile wallets.

Hard figures are not yet available for 2020, but Covid, of course, is expected to be a factor, with 39 per cent of French residents reporting they have reduced their use of cash since the pandemic began.

Famously cash-heavy due to an aversion to credit, even Germany has seen cash payments drop from 74 per cent in 2017 to 60 per cent last year. Thirty per cent of in-person transactions were via card, according to the Bundesbank. Still, baby steps: compare this to Sweden, where many shops simply have no cash-handling facilities at all.

According to Lorraine Higgins, secretary general of Digital Business Ireland, the much-heralded end of cash has been a major topic of discussion over the last 18 months. While it still seems that physical cash is unlikely to disappear, the rapid growth in the popularity of contactless payments indicates consumer trends are shifting.

“For businesses, having contactless payment functionality has become an absolute necessity. What might have been viewed as a ‘perk’ for consumers in previous years, has now become a core part of the customer experience,” she said.

The question now is: will plastic cards disappear before cash, much as CDs have declined more to a lower status than vinyl even as streaming has become the predominant method for listening to music.

“While there is no indication to suggest that device payments will fully replace physical cards, the enhanced customer experience offered by m-commerce is likely to prove increasingly popular among consumers,” Higgins said.

While initially the product of an increasingly digitalised economy, the Covid-19 pandemic has undoubtedly accelerated the demand for cashless payments.

Higgins said that while initially the product of an increasingly digitised economy, the Covid-19 pandemic has undoubtedly accelerated the demand for cashless payments. This tallies with reports from Europe’s central banks, all of which note at least a cohort of people wanting to minimise their exposure to the virus, even if some of us who happen to enjoy human contact bristle at the proliferation of QR codes and automated checkouts.

Making long-term predictions is a mug’s game, but in the short to medium term, even as the pandemic – hopefully – fades into memory, card, contactless and device-based payment is likely to become ingrained.

“Without a doubt, Covid-19 accelerated the digitalisation of our economy – and it is highly unlikely that we will see consumers return to their pre-pandemic habits. Prior to the onset of Covid-19 we had witnessed a natural transition towards contactless payments and m-commerce. However, it is now fair to say that consumers have grown somewhat accustomed to the convenience offered to them by this technology, and as a result will continue to further these trends in the years ahead,” Higgins said.

Interesting times, no doubt. In the end, though, in most cases it doesn’t matter what form the ‘cash’ in your pocket takes. What matters is how much you have.

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[grupo guitarlumber] 21/11/2021 18:50

Consensus


Mean consensus BUY

Number of Analysts 21

Last Close Price 50,13 €

Average target price 74,32 €
Spread / Average Target 48,2%

High Price Target 100,00 €
Spread / Highest target 99,5%

Low Price Target 38,30 €
Spread / Lowest Target -23,6%

[adrian j boris] 08/11/2021 10:24

In a research note, UBS analyst Hannes Leitner has maintained his recommendation on the stock with a Buy rating. Previously set at EUR 85.20, the target price is lowered to EUR 68.

[waldron] 07/10/2021 13:19

Invest Securities has reduced its price target from €96 to €84 and confirmed its Buy recommendation on Worldline.

According to the design office, the sale of terminals remains the main catalyst on the stock and the short-term priority of the management, so that it can present on October 27 medium-term objectives based solely on payment services activities.

The analyst lowered its valuation due to the rise in the weighted average cost of capital.

[waldron] 22/8/2021 08:45

Worldline and Bitcoin Suisse launch WL Crypto Payments in Switzerland

DisruptorsCrypto Currencies

By NS Banking Staff Writer 20 Aug 2021

85’000 merchants in Switzerland can now conveniently offer crypto payments through seamless integration in the Worldline payment infrastructure powered by Bitcoin Suisse
bitcoin-2643159_640(2)

Worldline and Bitcoin Suisse launch WL Crypto Payments in Switzerland. (Credit: Gerd Altmann from Pixabay.)

Worldline [Euronext: WLN] and Bitcoin Suisse announce the go-live of their omnichannel crypto payment solution for the more than 85’000 Swiss merchants in the Worldline network. Now all merchants in Switzerland using the Worldline point-of-sale and e-commerce payment services can let their clients pay in Bitcoin and Ether as easily as with other traditional payment options.

As the largest and most popular cryptocurrency in the world, Bitcoin has gained wide interest in recent years. Now thanks to the collaboration between Worldline, the European leader in the payments and transactional services industry, and Bitcoin Suisse, the Swiss market leader in crypto-financial services, payments with cryptocurrencies become widely available for merchants and their customers in Switzerland.

The integrated service offered by Worldline and Bitcoin Suisse, named WL Crypto Payments, lets merchants accept Bitcoin and Ether as a payment option at the point-of-sale (POS) and in e-commerce. Merchants can easily download the WL Crypto Payments mobile app or conveniently install the Worldline payment plugin for their webshop. Clients paying with crypto may do so through their usual mobile crypto wallet application. Prices shown by the merchant in CHF, can be, upon selection by the customer, alternatively quoted in Bitcoin or Ether in real time, paid for with crypto, and get confirmed to the merchant instantly. WL Crypto Payments enables merchants to offer payments with cryptocurrencies without being exposed to volatility risks, as the crypto transaction is securely converted into Swiss Francs straight after payment confirmation. Merchants benefit further by settlement in Swiss Francs and pay-out processes bundled with other payment options, like credit cards.

The crypto payments collaboration between Worldline and Bitcoin Suisse was first announced in November 2019. The rollout to all Worldline merchants in Switzerland was preceded by a successful pilot program.

Worldline Switzerland CEO Marc Schluep commented: “The launch of cryptocurrencies acceptance at the POS in Switzerland is a great proof of our ambition: Worldline wants to bring tangible value to merchants across the globe and to facilitate smooth and modern payments in all the markets we operate in. We’re happy to collaborate with Bitcoin Suisse on this forward-looking project.”
Bitcoin Suisse CEO Dr. Arthur Vayloyan added: “This is a historic milestone for crypto adoption in Switzerland and beyond. It is a great pleasure working together with Worldline to bring user-friendly crypto payments to the market in Switzerland. This step proves once again that Switzerland is a leader in collaborative innovation and a pioneer in the crypto and blockchain industry.”

Source: Company Press Release

[adrian j boris] 16/6/2021 07:23

WORLDLINE : Receives a Buy rating from Goldman Sachs
06/16/2021 | 08:09am BST


Already positive, the research from Goldman Sachs and its analyst Mohammed Moawalla still consider the stock as a Buy opportunity. The target price is still set at EUR 104.

[waldron] 28/5/2021 06:37

July 27, 2021

(before market opens)
H1 2021 results









October 19, 2021

(before market opens)
Q3 2021 revenue

[waldron] 28/5/2021 06:19

Worldline : to acquire Cardlink, the leading Network Services Provider in Greece
05/28/2021 | 06:30am BST


Worldline to acquire Cardlink,
the leading Network Services Provider in Greece

Acquisition of 92.5% of Cardlink, the leading Network Services Provider (NSP) in Greece, partnering with the CEO keeping 7.5% ownership

Strategic opportunity to expand Worldline’s Merchant Services business in the promising Greek market with a unique access to the leading local payment acceptance network

Up to 243,000 merchants served and 500 million transactions managed per year

€ 155 million enterprise value representing a c.11x EV/2020 OMDA multiple

Bezons, May 28, 2021 – Worldline [Euronext: WLN], a global leader in the payments industry, today announced the signing of a bidding agreement for the acquisition of 92.5% of the share capital of Cardlink, the leading Network Services Provider in Greece.