Worldline announces a major strategic commercial acquiring alliance with ANZ Bank in Australia - Seite 2

Finally, this partnership between ANZ and Worldline highlights the relevance of the newly created Worldline’s Merchant Services - Financial Institutions value proposition we will further deploy in Europe and beyond to cement future bank alliances in Merchant Services as more and more financial institutions are currently initiating similar strategic initiatives.”

Mark Hand, ANZ’s Group Executive Australia Retail and Commercial, said: “Partnering with a global payments provider means we can combine our banking expertise with Worldline’s leading solutions to offer Australian customers world class services.

Through this joint venture we will further enhance our capability as a leading transaction bank while continuing to manage customer relationships for broader banking needs. This is another example of our strategy to create a simpler and more digitally-focused bank that provides leading products and services for Australian customers.”

Australia: an attractive payment market

Australia is a highly attractive and strategic market for Worldline. It is the 14^th largest economy in the world and the 5^th largest in Asia. It enjoys robust economic performance with a low unemployment rate and limited public indebtedness, sustained by its consistent policy frameworks, strong institutions, attractive investment environment and deep trade ties with Asia.

The Australian payment industry shows favorable dynamics with a sizable and growing addressable market and a high level of readiness and receptiveness towards cashless payment methods.

Similar to Europe in terms of market structure, payment standards and technology, the Australian payment market is large and dynamic. It has a high level adoption of electronic payments and is ranked #4 globally for payment terminals per capita, with consumer use of contactless cards and digital wallets amongst the highest in the world.

Furthermore, with a cash penetration still high, the Australian market offers an attractive growth opportunity driven by the shift from cash to card. This trend has accelerated during the recent Covid-19 pandemic, driven by a temporary contactless payment threshold improvement (from AUD 100 to AUD 200), mobile payments solutions promoted by banks and an increased use of online shopping that seems to likely become a permanent shift.