London based fintech expands into Europe with latest multi-million pound acquisition

Equals Group Plc has announced its expansion into Europe, via the acquisition (subject to regulatory approval) of Oonex SA, a full-service payments institution licensed in Belgium, for a total of £4.1m.

Oonex provides global payment services to payment and fintech companies, including the licensing, technology and legal services to support their vision. Oonex is a Principal Member of Mastercard and provides access to Visa, Mastercard, Amex JCB and Carte Bancaire acquiring as an ISO.

With a GDP of over €14tn and a population of more than 700 million, Europe is one of the world’s largest markets for the payments industry and presents a significant growth opportunity for the Equals Group. The region’s increasing adoption of digital payments and e-commerce has created a high demand for secure and efficient payment solutions.

Equals intends to roll out its business payments, expense management and current account products throughout the EEA using Oonex’s fully passported licence. In addition it will provide its Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) and Embedded Finance products to larger corporates and other European financial institutions.

The product will be fully integrated with its UK and US offerings allowing access to the three large markets through a single product.

The announcement comes as Q1 trading updates show that revenue in Q1-2023 up to 24 March 2023 reached £20.2m, growing from £13.2m in the same period in 2022, an increase of 54 per cent, demonstrating continued rapid growth of the company.

Ian Strafford-Taylor, chief executive officer of the Equals Group, commented: “The expansion into Europe aligns with the Equals Group’s broader growth strategy, aimed at increasing our global footprint and strengthening our position as a leading payments technology company.

“We believe that this move will enable us to tap into new markets, expand our customer base, and generate incremental revenue streams.”

James Simcox, chief product officer of the Equals Group, added: “We have made a significant investment in our technology and payment platform over the last few years which will allow us to rapidly deploy new products into the European market and we are confident that we can meet the diverse needs of businesses across the continent.

Fabien Boursin, executive director and founder of Oonex, concluded: “We have worked hard over the last nine years to build up an enviable licensing portfolio and we now look forward to delivering on the opportunity of driving the business forward with the technology, know-how and customer base of the wider Equals group.”

By Matthew Neville – Senior Correspondent, Bdaily

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