montrada GmbH and PaySquare BV Merge to Establish PaySquare SE

BAD VILBEL, Germany and UTRECHT, The Netherlands, December 9, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

~ A broader and more comprehensive range of payment services for a larger market area ~

German and Dutch companies, montrada GmbH and PaySquare BV respectively, have announced that they are merging as of 1 January 2014 and continuing their operations under the name PaySquare SE. Both companies operate in payment card acceptance and transaction processing and are wholly owned subsidiaries of Equens SE. PaySquare SE will be headquartered in Utrecht, The Netherlands, and will have additional local branches in Frankfurt, Germany, and Warsaw, Poland. BD-POS GmbH,  a specialist in terminal logistics and maintenance currently owned by montrada, will be wholly owned by PaySquare SE. The current Board members of montrada and PaySquare will also form the Board of Directors of PaySquare SE. PaySquare SE processes a total sum of more than €14.3 billion in credit and debit transactions per annum for 120,000 clients across nine European countries. The company will process 262 million transactions a year and support more than 80,000 terminals.

Mutually complementary portfolios and market area

Both companies facilitate credit and debit payments and complement each other effectively in these activities, both geographically and in terms of their range of products and services. montrada provides a complete solution for terminal delivery and maintenance, card acceptance and network services for the brands Girocard, ELV, Maestro, V PAY, MasterCard and Visa. The new company's portfolio will include PaySquare's additional credit card brands JCB, UnionPay, Discover and Diners Club. montrada operates in Germany and Poland, while PaySquare focuses on the Benelux and - for online payments - on five other countries. PaySquare SE will therefore offer a highly comprehensive range of products and services for customers requiring both local and cross-border services across the whole product portfolio for digital payments. For this reason, the merger between the two Equens SE subsidiaries is a logical step.

Harald Maurer, Managing Director of montrada: "As one company, we will be able to serve our customers more effectively and respond more rapidly to market developments. Naturally, reliability and quality will remain our primary concerns. With the exception of the new name for German and Polish clients, our customers won't notice any changes in the initial stages of the merger. However, in the long term they will benefit from a much wider range of options."

Petra Gerla, Managing director of PaySquare: "The markets in Germany, Poland and the Benelux differ significantly from one another, which demands a different approach and a different range of products and services. By retaining a local presence in these countries, with a broader offering, we will be able to serve these markets even more effectively."  

The PaySquare name has been chosen because it clearly represents the company's activities. Consequently, the montrada brand name will be phased out in 2014. The new brand and corporate image will be implemented in stages.  

Because the activities of montrada and PaySquare primarily complement each other, and barely overlap, the merger will not affect any staff.

The chosen legal form for the new company, Societas Europaea (SE) - also referred to as Europe Inc. or Europa AG - is a legal form that comes under the legislation of the European Union, and is well suited to the European nature of PaySquare SE.

EDITORIAL NOTE

About montrada GmbH

montrada specialises in authorisation and clearing/settlement services for credit, debit and customer cards, both POS and E and M-Commerce for domestic and international merchants. It provides terminals and cash point solutions to its customers to be able to accept cards.

montrada was founded in 2002 as a joint venture by Commerzbank and Dresdner Bank. Since October 2010, 100% of the shares have been transferred to Equens SE. Today, montrada works independently of banks and has an autonomous presence on the market. Furthermore, montrada has the European principal licences of Visa and MasterCard.  

As a market innovator, montrada supports an M-Payment offer for one of the largest German banking groups and the first terminal server solution including NFC acceptance for a major retailer in the German market.

About PaySquare BV

PaySquare is a big player in the acceptance of credit cards and international debit cards in the Netherlands, for acceptance through payment terminals, through websites or by post, phone or fax. (MO/TO). PaySquare also provides card acceptance to companies operating in Belgium and Luxembourg and - online only - in Austria, France, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. Furthermore, through us you can accept payments in a large number of currencies from countries outside the eurozone. PaySquare ensures that your customers can pay quickly, conveniently and securely using their credit cards or international debit cards, allowing you to receive rapid payments on these transactions. We provide advice, information and support regarding the acceptance of MasterCard, Visa, Discover and Diners Club, JCB, UnionPay, Maestro and V PAY.

For more information on montrada, please visit http://www.montrada.de. For more information on PaySquare BV, please visit http://www.paysquare.eu.

SOURCE montrada GmbH and PaySquare BV