News

Euronet receives FSA authorization in the UK

November 27, 2011

Euronet Worldwide Inc., through its wholly owned subsidiary, Euronet Payments & Card Services Ltd., has been authorized by the Financial Service Authority in the United Kingdom to provide payment services.

According to a press release, this authorization covers a broad range of services, including ATM and POS transaction acquiring, which allows Euronet to apply for direct membership with the major card schemes.

Following the authorization, Euronet applied for and received membership with Visa and MasterCard for ATM transaction acquiring. This allows Euronet to directly process ATM debit and credit card transactions throughout most of Europe, without the requirement of a sponsor bank.

Euronet can now provide acquiring services in 29 European countries, including Austria; Belgium; Bulgaria; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Estonia; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Iceland; Ireland; Italy; Latvia; Liechtenstein; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Malta; Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Romania; Slovak Republic; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; and the UK.

"The significance of this development is monumental as it reflects a paradigm shift in our business. Previously, anytime we deployed ATMs in new markets we had to engage in lengthy negotiations to secure a sponsor bank," said Nikos Fountas, senior vice president and managing director of Euronet's Europe EFT Division. "Moreover, this license enables us to expedite time-to-market entry, increases our flexibility in product development and creates the opportunity to expand cross-selling synergies between our different segments."

Euronet's global payment network includes 12,668 ATMs.

For more information on this topic, visit our transaction processing research center.