EUROPEAN ACCEPTANCE

Italy may look into taking Nexi private following concerns around a Nexi-Worldline merger and the expected French resistance to job cuts. The EU sees the merger as vital to compete with US players, but regulatory complexities and workforce disparities hinder progress.

According to a report by the PSR, card scheme and processing services have risen by at least 25% since 2017, costing businesses £170 million extra annually. A lack of clear fee information further burdens businesses. The PSR have said they will consult on remedies to address these issues.

Visa records spike in Tap to Phone uptake in the UK, with more than one in five ‘Tap sellers’ being new small businesses.

In other news…

ACCEPTANCE & PROCESSING

Mollie expands to Poland offering businesses payment processing with local methods like BLIK and Przelewy24.

HSBC partners with B2B payments and invoicing network TreviPay to utilise their platform to offer flexible payment options and financing at the point of sale in hopes to boost the digital experiences for in the B2B realm.

PayPal is launching PayPal Open in the US, a unified platform for both small-medium and enterprise merchants offering online and in-store payments.  PayPal Open integrates PayPal, Venmo, Fastlane, and Pay Later offerings. It will expand to the UK and Germany later this year and additional markets will follow in 2026.

CORPORATE ACTIVITY

Klarna to file for IPO in US as soon as next week. Klarna is reportedly looking to raise as much as $1bn with a market valuation of $15 billion.

DIGITAL, RETAIL & ‘Neo’ BANKING 

Revolut denies operating in Ukraine without license after central bank’s pushback. Revolut denied any wrongdoing, clarifying that it is merely offering EU accounts to Ukrainian residents on a cross-border basis and that it does not plan to open Ukrainian accounts without further authorisation. 

Lloyds, TSB, Halifax, and Nationwide among UK banks down on payday. This is the second month in a row where major banks were facing payments issues on payday, the same occurring with Barclays, Lloyds, Capital One, and Halifax at the end of January.

LITIGATION

BaFin fines Deutsche Bank EUR 23 million for regulatory breaches. This includes derivatives sales violations in Spain, telephone recording failures and account switching service breaches.

MOBILE MONEY/WALLETS

BVNK launches embedded wallet unifying fiat and stablecoins. It offers API integration for businesses to enable fast, 24/7 money movement across Swift, SEPA and blockchains, with features like auto-conversion.

Lithuanian electronic money institution Walletto has integrated MB WAY, the popular Portuguese mobile wallet.