Worldline says its Italian acquiring share has reached 10 percent, up from 4 percent in 2022

Marking twenty years of its Italian merchant-services business, Worldline disclosed that it now serves 250,000 merchants in Italy and manages 16 million payment cards through a distribution network of more than 200 banks, and that its share of Italian acquiring has reached roughly 10 percent against 4 percent in 2022. Stefano Calderano, chief executive of Worldline Merchant Services Italia, presented the figures.

The release puts them against an Italian digital payments market of EUR 518 billion in 2025, up 7 percent year on year, with 45 percent of consumer spending now on electronic instruments against 38 percent in cash, and notes group revenue of EUR 4 billion in 2025 and annual research and development spending of around EUR 225 million.

Worldline's group story has been one of lost ground, so a market where it has more than doubled acquiring share in four years is worth reading precisely. The route is the one that distinguishes Italy from most of Europe: more than 200 bank referral partners rather than direct sales, which is also what Nexi is built on, so the two are growing from the same channel.

For anyone modelling the long-rumoured Nexi and Worldline combination, a 10 percent Italian share next to Nexi's domestic position is the overlap that a competition authority would look at first.

Whether the share gain shows up in Worldline's reported Italian merchant-services revenue rather than only in merchant counts, how many of the 200 bank partners are exclusive, and whether Italian POS terminal numbers keep falling while card volume grows.

• worldline.com