Paysafe to buy SafetyPay in $441m deal

Ellie Duncan
18 Aug 2021

London-based payments platform Paysafe has agreed to acquire SafetyPay for $441 million in an all-cash transaction that will further strengthen its presence in Latin America.

The deal follows Paysafe’s recent acquisition of Peruvian payments platform PagoEfectivo, and combined will mean that PaySafe becomes the leading Open Banking and e-cash solutions provider in Latin America.

Upon completion of the deal, which is expected in the fourth quarter of 2021, the SafetyPay team will transition to Paysafe’s expanding e-cash and online banking solutions team, which is headed up by Paysafe eCash CEO Udo Mueller.

At that point, SafetyPay CEO Gustavo Ruiz Moya will become CEO of eCash for Latin America and global head of Open Banking, reporting into Mueller.

According to Paysafe, its enlarged eCash business will be able to offer e-cash and Open Banking solutions in more than 60 countries with over one million distribution points.

Philip McHugh, CEO of Paysafe, said: “We are very excited to welcome SafetyPay into the Paysafe family. The team has successfully built a market-leading payment platform that has become the de facto Open Banking solution for Latin America.”

SafetyPay was founded in 2007 and now has a presence in 11 Latin American countries, operating a network of banks that means it has over 90% bank coverage.

McHugh added: “By combining the capabilities and Open Banking network of both SafetyPay and PagoEfectivo with our existing solutions in processing, digital wallets and eCash, along with our deep expertise in specialised verticals such as iGaming, travel and digital goods, we can become the true market leader in the region and provide merchants with unique and powerful combinations to grow their business.”

Read more about Latin America’s Open Banking journey here.