October 31, 2023
EPI successfully completes acquisition of iDEAL and Payconiq International
Brussels, 31 October 2023: The European Payments Initiative (EPI) is pleased to announce the successful closure of the acquisition of the Dutch payment solution iDEAL and the Luxembourg technology provider Payconiq International as announced earlier this year.
EPI is delighted to confirm that following the positive conclusion of all relevant regulatory approval processes, EPI has been able to complete today its acquisition of respectively Currence iDEAL B.V. and of Payconiq International S.A. This marks a significant milestone for EPI’s strategy to deliver a unified instant payment scheme and platform for Europe.
The completion of these acquisitions further supports EPI’s ambition to become a leading player in the European payments landscape. It also underscores EPI’s commitment to provide Europe with an innovative, secure and instant digital payment solution. This will enable EPI to start preparing the deployment of its payment solution in Belgium, France, Germany, followed by the Netherlands – countries that together represent more than half of all non-cash payments in the euro area, before extending to other European countries.
EPI firmly believes that both Currence iDEAL B.V. and Payconiq International S.A. constitute strategic assets that will support to drive forward EPI’s mission to build a digital wallet solution and an instant, account-to-account payment means under one unified brand across European countries. EPI recently announced that its digital wallet, named Wero, is set to redefine the way people pay, bridging the gaps in the current payment ecosystem in Europe.
I personally would like to express my gratitude to all parties involved in these significant transactions. I thank our shareholders for their continuous trust in EPI’s vision & mission and the relevant authorities for their diligent review. Furthermore, I would like to address a warm welcome to the employees of iDEAL and Payconiq International who will be joining the EPI family. I believe that their expertise and experience will be very valuable in driving the success of EPI and its payment solution Wero.
Amidst this significant evolution of the company, EPI reassures business continuity of iDEAL and Payconiq International, and of their seamless service integration throughout the transition process. EPI remains fully committed to providing uninterrupted payment services to the merchants and consumers in Luxembourg, Belgium and the Netherlands.
Financial information about the acquisitions will not be disclosed.
Finally, we express our utmost gratitude to everyone involved and we look forward to embarking with our shareholders and members on this new chapter together.
The European Payments Initiative (EPI) is an initiative backed by 16 European banks and financial services companies to progressively build a payment solution tailored for Europe. EPI leverages the instant account-to-account payments infrastructure available in Europe to improve efficiency and remove intermediaries in the payment flow. It aims at enabling the next-generation payments for consumers and merchants in Europe across all types of retail transactions. EPI will initially support person-to-person (P2P) and person-to-professional (P2Pro) payments, followed by online and mobile shopping payments and then point-of-sale payments.