EVO Payments has struck a long-term partnership with the National Bank of Greece (NBG) to offer merchant acquiring and payment processing services.
The strategic tie-up will see the two entities setting up a merchant acquiring joint venture (JV), with NBG spinning off its merchant acquiring arm.
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By GlobalDataEV will manage the JV, in which it will take a 51% stake for €158m ($180m).
The deal awaits regulatory clearance, with completion scheduled in 2022.
NBG will refer customers to the new entity while EVO will offer its card acceptance solutions through its proprietary products and processing platforms.
The deal is expected to help EVO cash in on the strong digital payments trends.
EVO CEO James Kelly said: “We are very excited to expand our international footprint into Greece by forming a long-term marketing alliance with NBG.
“NBG will be a trusted partner as we bring our proprietary solutions to the market and increase card acceptance. The Bank’s market leading brand recognition and significant customer base will enable us to grow the merchant portfolio as we work together to deliver strong revenue growth.”
Established in 1841, NBG is said to be the largest lender in Greece by total assets. The bank has around 360 retail branches across the country and an active customer base of more than 5 million.
It is also said to be the largest card issuer in the country, having a 33% market share.
Besides, it is ranked as the second largest merchant acquirer with a market share of 22%.
Commenting on the deal, NBG CEO Paul Mylonas said: “The establishment of our relationship with EVO is a great step forward for the National Bank of Greece as it seeks to capitalise on the attractive payments opportunity in the market.
“We are equally pleased to form this alliance and leverage EVO’s proven payments expertise as we enhance our merchant acquiring products and services and increase the value of the business.”
EVO expects the financial performance of the new entity to be “accretive to the mid-teen revenue growth rate” of its Europe segment.
In August this year, EVO took over British omnichannel payment gateway Anderson Zaks.
It followed the purchase of Chilean e-commerce payment gateway Pago Fácil in June this year and the acquisition of Irish peer Way2Pay and the payment gateway assets of SF Systems in 2019.
