Paysafe to acquire Germany-based fintech company viafintech

Paysafe has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the Germany-based fintech company viafintech in an all-cash transaction.

According to the press release, viafintech, known under the brands of Barzahlen/viacash and viacash, offers the largest, bank independent, payments infrastructure in the DACH region, allowing an alternative to the traditional banking structure.  For Paysafe, this latest acquisition not only boosts its growth opportunities in Germany, a critical market for its international merchants, it also creates revenue-generating opportunities to cross-sell viafintech’s alternative banking and payments solutions to its merchants around the world. 

Paysafe’s core purpose is to enable businesses and consumers to connect and transact in a streamlined manner via payment processing, e-wallets, e-cash, and open banking solutions. It offers over 70 payment types in over 40 currencies around the world. 

viafintech was founded in 2011, and it integrates with digital banking apps to offer a 'mobile ATM' concept which enables consumers to make deposits or withdraw cash from their digital bank accounts at a nearby retail store using a barcode; something that is becoming increasingly popular in the region as brick-and-mortar bank branches close and fast-growing challenger banks and e-wallets disrupt the market. viafintech solutions are also used for bill payments and credit payouts, as well as for online shopping in general, supporting millions of consumers in the region who don’t have bank accounts – or who simply prefer using e-cash to pay online. 

Headquartered in Germany, it also has a presence in five European countries, with plans to expand further. viafintech operates through a network of 20,000 POS with over 20 well-known retail partners, and it also has deep relationships in the banking, bill payments, and ecommerce industries. 

This latest acquisition builds on Paysafe’s recent LATAM acquisition agreements with PagoEfectivo and SafetyPay. On completion of the three acquisitions, the Paysafe eCash business will be able to offer e-cash and open banking solutions in over 60 countries, with over one million distribution points.