JPM.N announced that it has agreed to purchase 49 per cent of the stake in the Greek fintech startup Viva Wallet,
Although there is no disclosure of the financial transaction, official sources value the deal of up to $2 billion dollars. JPM’s investment would exceed $1.15 billion, containing a rise in capital for Viva Wallet which will not dilute its founders controlling 51.5 per cent.
Present in 23 European countries, Viva Wallet offers card acceptance services via its POS application, add-on Google Play devices, and sophisticated payment systems in online retailers.
The head of global payments at the American multinational investment bank stated to be thrilled of this strategic investment which supports their goal of empowering new growth and payments innovations focused at EU SMEs.
He stated that the European payments industry has a big opportunity, with more than 17 million merchants ready to install payment systems that can be swiftly scaled up.
The stock will be bought from Viva Wallet’s minority owners, who include the Latsis family office, which owns around 13% of the company, and British fund Hedosophia, which owns approximately 24%.
In 2020, the fintech obtained a banking license through purchasing Greece’s Praxia Bank, controlled by former CEO at Barclays and Atlas Merchant Capital partners.
The same year, it introduced Apple Pay and Google Pay in 18 countries, providing clients with digital business debit cards.
The objective of Viva Wallet is to use cutting-edge technology in order to achieve its goal of altering the way businesses in Europe pay and get paid.
Photo by Hunters Race
