Finch Capital acquires Wirecard Turkey through Nomu Pay

By Robin Amlot

Finch Capital, through Nomu Pay, a vehicle that invests in payment assets, has reached an agreement to acquire Wirecard Ödeme Ve Elektronik Para Hizmetleri (Wirecard Turkey). The deal is expected to be completed by Summer 2021 and is subject to certain conditions, including regulatory approvals. The investment is part of Nomu Pay’s larger plan to invest in payments infrastructure in Turkey and the Middle East region. More details will be provided at closing on the strategy and rebranding.

Radboud Vlaar, Managing Partner Finch Capital, said: “We see tremendous growth opportunities to further enhance payments for Turkey’s 80 million inhabitants. We are excited to team up with Wirecard Turkey under the leadership of its CEO Serkan Yasin and we continue to actively look for further M&A opportunities in the region to accelerate its growth and development.”

This is the latest in a growing list of former Wirecard subsidiaries to find a new home. Most recently prior to this deal, Banco Santander  announced in November last year that it will be acquiring specialised technological assets from the merchant payments business of Wirecard in Europe.

Wirecard Turkey was established in July 2008 and started its operations in April 2009 as Turkey’s first direct carrier billing service provider. The company, which has been in the investment and sales process twice since its establishment, received its first private investment in 2011. In 2014, all the shares were acquired by Wirecard Issuing & Acquiring Gmbh which is a subsidiary of Wirecard AG and it has been operating as “Wirecard Ödeme ve Elektronik Para Hizmetleri AŞ” since 2015.

Within the scope of the regulations issued in the Turkish payment services ecosystem, the company was granted an “e-money” license from the regulator in October 2016, one of the first in the country.

The company provides payment services in three main domains which are; Direct Carrier Billing, Credit Card Acquiring and E-money. The company’s main operational activities are acquisition of merchants through contracts, integrating merchants to the carrier billing & credit card payment platform, management of merchant settlements and providing customers to the merchant. Wirecard Turkey has currently contracts with all three GSM operators, majority of the banks in Turkey and more than 1200 merchants.