Worldline partners Crédit Agricole to build “major payments player” in France

Global paytech Worldline has partnered with retail bank Crédit Agricole to build a new joint payment company in France.

The joint venture is expected to be operational by 2025 and will leverage Crédit Agricole’s merchant acquiring footprint, distribution network and knowledge of the French market as well as Worldline’s tech and global infrastructure capabilities across in-store and online payments.

Worldline CEO Gilles Grapinet says the partnership represents a “unique opportunity” for the paytech to expand its footprint and scale within continental Europe’s largest acquiring market, worth around €700 billion in merchant sales value.

“Structured primarily as a contribution in kind of our respective technological capabilities, commercial footprint and distribution capabilities to a joint company, this major contemplated transaction fully preserves our balance sheet and financial and strategic flexibility,” Grapinet adds.