Worldline (Euronext: WLN) and PSA Payment Services Austria GmbH (PSA), who have been partners for the past eight years, have agreed to continue working together for the benefit of Austria’s digital payment system for a further five years.

Worldline, the European market leader in payments and transactional services systems and transaction services, will continue to process all transactions made using Austrian debit cards on PSA’s behalf.  In 2019, one billion transactions were processed under the previous agreement, which has now been extended for another five years.

Worldline is a leading technology partner to the European banking industry and provides highly secure, frictionless processing of cashless payments and multiple innovative digital services for consumers as well as merchants. In Austria, SIX Payment Services, which became part of Worldline in late 2018, has been the central processor of all PSA card transactions since 2012.

PSA is the Austrian banks’ central service provider for cashless payment systems and supports the banks with both conventional card products and increasingly popular mobile payment solutions. Contactless payments (NFC) via debit cards, e.g., has become a naturally expected feature for Austrian card holders.

As part of their collaboration, Worldline processes approximately one billion transactions for PSA per year (2019). This includes approx. 770 million payment transactions carried out with the ten million Austrian debit cards directly or indirectly via NFC and mobile-based payment solutions, such as Apple Pay. In addition, Worldline handled approximately 137 million domestic and international ATM cash withdrawals and a further 157 million service transactions.

Michael Steinbach, Managing Director Financial Services at Worldline, commented: "Worldline is a long-term partner and best in class of the banking industry. We are proud to have been able to accompany PSA on its innovative course and will continue to do so for many years."

David Ostah, PSA’s Chief Executive Officer, added: “As the central provider of the payment infrastructure, security, innovation and professionalism are critical for us. Worldline supports our innovative projects with global expertise and a pioneering spirit. Together, we look forward to bringing new payment offerings to the Austrian market.