Paysafe Limited (formerly known as Optimal Payments PLC) is a multinational online payments company. Paysafe offers payment processing, digital wallet and online cash systems to businesses and consumers, with particular experience of serving the global entertainment sectors. The group offers services both under the ''Paysafe'' brand and subsidiary brands that have become part of the group through several

mergers and acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) are business transactions in which the ownership of a company, business organization, or one of their operating units is transferred to or consolidated with another entity. They may happen through direct absorpt ...

, most notably Neteller, Skrill, SafetyPay, PagoEfectivo, Paysafecash and paysafecard. Legally domiciled in

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

, Paysafe’s corporate headquarters are in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. Various Paysafe group companies hold a number of licences from different national and state regulators including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Financial Conduct Authority and the Central Bank of Ireland. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index until it was acquired by a consortium of The Blackstone Group and CVC Capital Partners in December 2017. Paysafe then listed on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is the List of stock exchanges, largest stock excha ...

on March 31, 2021 (ticker PSFE) following a merger with special purpose acquisition company Foley Trasimene Acquisition Corp II.

History

The company was formed from the combination of Neteller PLC, Netbanx Ltd and Optimal Payments Limited. Netbanx was founded in 1996, Optimal Payments in 1997, and Neteller in 1999. In April 2004, Neteller PLC raised about $70 million in its

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investm ...

(IPO) on the London Stock Exchange. In November 2005, Neteller PLC acquired Netbanx Ltd. In November 2008, Neteller PLC renamed itself to Neovia Financial PLC. In February 2011, Neovia Financial PLC acquired Optimal Payments of Montreal, Canada. Next month, Neovia Financial PLC changed its name to Optimal Payments PLC. In early 2012, the acquisition was revealed to be a reverse takeover with the purging of a number of the senior management along with the chairman of the board. In July 2014, Optimal Payment PLC expanded its United States interests by purchasing Meritus Payment Solutions, a

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

based payment processing company, and Global Merchant Advisors, Inc. based in the U.S. in a deal worth over $235 Million. In March 2015, Optimal Payments PLC revealed that it would acquire rival Skrill group, including pre-paid voucher provider paysafecard, for a fee of around €1.1 billion. In the same year, Optimal Payments rebranded as Paysafe Group. The company moved to the main market of the London Stock Exchange in December 2015. On 25 November 2016, Paysafe Group, owner of Neteller and Skrill, restricted the use of the Net+ Prepaid MasterCard to countries within the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). This left users in over 100 countries unable to withdraw cash from ATM's, which left no recourse but to make purchases with Neteller/Skrill merchant partners or transfer funds to a bank account. In August 2017, it was announced that Paysafe would be sold to a consortium of The Blackstone Group and CVC Capital Partners for £2.96 billion, making it the largest

private equity Private equity (PE) is stock in a private company that does not offer stock to the general public; instead it is offered to specialized investment funds and limited partnerships that take an active role in the management and structuring of the co ...

backed takeover of a London-listed company since the

2008 financial crisis The 2008 financial crisis, also known as the global financial crisis (GFC), was a major worldwide financial crisis centered in the United States. The causes of the 2008 crisis included excessive speculation on housing values by both homeowners ...

. The acquisition was approved by the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

on 22 November 2017. On 21 December 2017, Paysafe got delisted from the London Stock Exchange. In April 2019, with the likelihood of the upcoming withdrawal of the

(UK) from the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

(EU), the so-called " Brexit", Paysafe Group announced their plans to prevent any negative effects for their users and merchants. Since Brexit came into effect, the company has transferred its European Economic Area ( EEA) business to newly incorporated group companies based in

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, namely Paysafe Payment Solutions Limited and Paysafe Prepaid Services Limited. Each company is authorized and regulated as an electronic money institution by the Irish financial services regulator, the Central Bank of Ireland. In July 2020, it was announced that Paysafe bought payment gateway Openbucks for an undisclosed amount of money. It was announced that the Openbucks team would become part of the parent company's eCash solutions group. In December 2020, the company announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to merge with special-purpose acquisition company, Foley Trasimene Acquisition Corp, in a US$9 billion transaction. In April 2022, Paysafe announced a new partnership with US-based auto finance company Exeter Finance, allowing for eCash payments for US auto loans. That same month, the company also announced Bruce Lowthers would replace Philip McHugh as CEO and executive director from May 1, 2022.

Products and services

The company provides the following products and services: * Neteller is an electronic money/ digital wallet service that allows consumers to add, withdraw and transfer funds to and from merchants and other people. Net+ prepaid payment card available in eight currencies is mainly intended to be used with Neteller and is accepted as normal MasterCard payment card. * Skrill is a product that allows payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet, with a focus on low-cost international money transfers. * paysafecard and Paysafecash are payment methods that allow customers to make payments online without the use of a bank account or credit card information. * SafetyPay, an open banking and eCash platform based in Latin America. * PagoEfectivo, a Peruvian-based alternative payments (APM) platform. * viacash which enables consumers to make deposits or withdraw cash from their digital bank accounts at a nearby retail store using a barcode. * Income Access is an affiliate marketing and business intelligence provider.

Sponsorship

Optimal Payments was the official sponsor of Crystal Palace Football Club for the 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons, with the front of the team's shirts displaying Neteller's logo. In February 2018 it was announced that Paysafe would sponsor the No. 19 Dale Coyne Racing

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

, shared by Zachary Claman DeMelo and Pietro Fittipaldi, in the 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series.

References

External links

{{Authority control Digital currencies Payment service providers Merchant services Financial services companies of the Isle of Man Financial services companies established in 1996 2017 mergers and acquisitions Companies formerly listed on the London Stock Exchange Special-purpose acquisition companies Financial services companies of Bermuda Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange CVC Capital Partners companies Blackstone Inc. companies