Sabah – German payment services provider Wirecard has reached an acquisition agreement with Turkish mobile payment systems company Mikro Odeme Sistemleri AS.
Istanbul-based company’s 3Pay brand is one of the leading payment providers in Türkiye with a market share of 65 percent.
The German company will pay TRY 80 million (approx. USD 37 million) for the acquisition which will be its first foray into the Turkish market. The acquisition will also serve the Wirecard’s expansion plans into the Middle Eastern and North African markets. The acquisition is subject to approval by relevant authorities in Türkiye.
With over 70 million cell phone subscribers, one fifth of them smart phone owners, in a population of nearly 77 million, Turkish people are increasingly relying on their mobile devices for e-shopping. The country is among the world’s top 3 countries after the UK and Germany in using mobile devices for e-commerce, according to Türkiye’s Interbank Card Center (BKM).
In recent years, other global brands such as MasterCard, Malaysia’s MOL and UK’s Monitise acquired Turkish payment specialists to take part in the country’s fast growing mobile payments sector.