JPMorgan is dipping into its $12 billion technology investment warchest to acquire a 49% stake in European cloud-based payment network Viva Wallet.
Founded in 2000, Viva Wallet is headquartered in Athens, Greece, and focuses on serving SMEs in 23 countries. The company operates a cloud-based payments platform that is able to offer a broad array of services to merchants including tap to device technology, merchant cash advance, bill pay, expense management, virtual debit card issuance, cash disbursement, gift cards and loyalty.
JPMorgan recently unveiled its brand for SME payments, Chase Payment Solutions, in the US and the new investments in the European market are centred on growing its omnichannel merchant acquiring capabilities to serve the bloc's small and medium-sized businesses.
Takis Georgakopoulos, global head of JPMorgan Payments, comments: “The European payments landscape is fragmented yet large in terms of opportunity, with more than 17 million merchants ready to implement scalable payments solutions and this is a big focus area for added growth for JPMorgan Payments in the future.”
In January the US bank laid out plans to spend more than $12 billion on technology in 2022. The investment in Viva Wallet comes hard on the heels of the bank's agreement to take a 75% stake in VW Payments, the payments platform of card manufacturer Volkswagen.