JPMorgan confirmed it may acquire approximately 49% of Viva Wallet. While the terms of the acquisition were not disclosed, the deal is speculated to be worth 700 million euros.
According to Greek media, the acquired shares are reported to be from the minority shareholders: Hedosophia 24%, The Latsis family 13% and Deca 10%. The Founder of Viva Wallet, Harris Karonis may retain the remaining shares. The capitalisation of Viva Wallet may be around 1.5 billion euros.
Takis Georgakopoulos, the Global Head of JPMorgan Payments said on the acquisition, “The European payments landscape is fragmented yet large in terms of opportunity, with more than 17 million merchants ready to implement scalable payments solutions, and this is a big focus area for added growth for J.P. Morgan Payments in the future.”
With over 500,000 downloads in the Play Store, Viva Wallet is offering to turn smartphones into a Point of Sale (POS). Operating in 23 European countries, users can easily accept payments with their smartphones. ‘No cables, no dongles or special hardware needed’.
Established in 2020, Viva Wallet targets Small to Midsize Businesses (SMB). Some of the tools offered in the cloud-based platform are virtual debit cards, expense management and Merchant Cash Advance (MCA).
In December 2021, Viva Wallet acquired 33.5% of N7 mobile, the Polish company that provides ‘innovative solutions in software engineering’.
JPMorgan's Recent Acquisitions and Onyx
JPMorgan is focusing on reshaping the way payments are transferred. Aside from Viva Wallet, JPMorgan is also acquiring 75% (approx.) of Volkswagen's Financial Services payment platform.
This is in line with JPMorgan Chase, which is due to spend more than $12 billion on technology. For instance, JPMorgan already penetrated UK markets with Nutmeg, the UK’s largest digital wealth manager. Nutmeg was acquired in 2021 for an estimated deal of £500 to 700 million.
According to a recent US consumers’ survey, mobile payments are on the rise. Only 14% responded that they have not used a mobile payment app in the past year.
Additionally, JPMorgan is developing its system in the blockchain called ‘Onyx’. Onyx is reserved for financial institutions. Liink (part of Onyx) is used for money transfers as well as exchanging information in a secure manner.
Moreover, Onyx was tested by Bahrain central bank using JPMorgan coin (pegged to the US Dollar, 1:1). The test ended with great success. In addition, Siemens has partnered with JPMorgan. Also, Onyx is used to automatically transfer funds between the company’s accounts.
Furthermore, JPMorgan may attempt to bring Onyx into the retail market in the future. The latest round of acquisitions may assist the firm in doing so.
Stay tuned for more potential acquisitions by JPMorgan in 2022.
