Mobile wallet applications such as Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s Pay and new European regulation will spur large contracts from banks in 2015 for Atos’s Worldline SA (WLN) electronic-payments business, according to the unit’s chief.
As Europe caps what banks can charge customers per card payment, more financial institutions are looking to outsource transaction processing to companies like Worldline, according to Chief Executive Officer Gilles Grapinet. Mobile apps such as Apple’s are forcing lenders to innovate and will accelerate a consumer shift to non-cash payments, which will also benefit Worldline, he said.
“For banks, services like Apple Pay are a threat,” said Grapinet, speaking in Barcelona at an investors conference organized by Morgan Stanley. “For us it’s a source of growth for the future.”
Atos (ATO), the French computer services company which is Worldline’s largest shareholder, this year listed the business to pave the way for acquisitions. Worldline, which generates revenue from managing transactions for customers including banks, retailers and public transport operators, is seeking takeovers to become Europe’s largest electronic payments company.
“As soon as the IPO is behind us, we’re refocusing on M&A,” Grapinet said. “You’ll see us making announcements regularly.”
Shares of Worldline advanced 1.1 percent to 15.95 euros at 9:13 a.m. in Paris, giving the business a market value of 2.1 billion euros ($2.6 billion).
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