| Predecessor: | Interpay, Transaktionsinstitut für Zahlungsverkehrsdienstleistungen AG |
| Founded: | 2006 as equens, 2016 as equensWorldline |
| Founders: | --> |
| Successors: | --> |
| Area Served: | Single Euro Payments Area |
| Owners: | --> |
| Website: | worldline.com/financial-institutions |
equensWorldline SE (formerly Equens) is a payment card and payment processor headquartered in Utrecht, Netherlands which serves the European market. Since 2019, it has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Worldline.[1] As of 2020, equensWorldline had additional branch offices in Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg and sales representatives in the UK.[2]
Equens was established in 2006 as Europe's first pan-European payment processor. This followed the merger of Europe's two largest payment processors: Interpay from The Netherlands and the Transaktionsinstitut für Zahlungsverkehrsdienstleistungen AG from Germany.
In July 2008, Equens SE was formed as Societas Europaea, initially operating as a holding company. In September 2008, Equens SE extended its activities to Italia, by forming Equens Italia, a 50:50 joint venture with Italy's Istituto Centrale delle Banche Popolari Italiane. In 2011, Equens Italia became a wholly owned subsidiary of Equens SE, and in 2013 it turned into a permanent establishment of Equens.
In 2016, equensWorldline was created, following the merger between Equens SE and Worldline's Financial Services activities in France, Benelux and Germany.
Initially, Worldline hold 63.6% of the shares, the rest (36.4%) being held by Dutch, German and Italian banks.[3] However, Worldline had a call option on the minority shares, which it exercised in 2019, hence becoming the sole owner of equensWorldline.