Building on a merger with Italian PayTech specialists Nexi, Nets has moved into the Finnish ecommerce sector through the acquisition of Checkout Finland via online payment group Paytrail.
Checkout Finland, part of OP Financial Group, is a growing player in the Finnish payment landscape, serving both ecommerce and physical stores with a wide array of payment options, together with mobile payment solutions.
Markus Laurio, CEO of Paytrail, commented: “The way we shop and transact online is somewhat different in Finland. Not least because of the enduring popularity of direct bank transfers.
“Understanding and developing our offerings as the experts in Finnish ecommerce has always been our passion, and we are happy to join forces with Checkout Finland, to serve Finnish customers even better with our very strong capabilities and insights into Finnish digital payments.”
The deal accelerates a period of consolidation within the European payments sector, as a host of collaborations have been formed to serve elevated expansion into new regions.
Robert Hoffmann, CEO of Merchant Services at Nets Group, added: “While we are seeing a move towards larger players in the industry, together with the rising number of smaller fintech players, local know-how is also a key success factor.
“As we see ecommerce as one of the biggest growth areas within payments, we are very pleased to further strengthen our ability to innovate and offer the best in online payments in Finland with Checkout Finland.”
