Euronet Worldwide is a prominent global provider of payment and transaction processing solutions. With its headquarters in Leawood, Kansas, Euronet operates in three key segments – EFT Processing, epay, and Money Transfer. The company offers a wide range of innovative products and services that facilitate electronic transactions for businesses and consumers in over 175 countries. Euronet has established itself as a leading player in the payments industry due to its global reach, innovative technology, and focus on operational efficiency.

Introduction

Founded in 1994, Euronet Worldwide started as a provider of ATM services in Europe. Over the years, the company has significantly expanded its portfolio and geographic footprint through organic growth and strategic acquisitions. Today, Euronet is a global leader in processing secure electronic financial transactions with Point of Sale (POS) acquiring services for retailers, card outsourcing services, and electronic distribution of prepaid mobile airtime and other prepaid products. The company also provides money transfer services through a network of agents and company-owned stores.

Euronet’s core expertise lies in providing end-to-end electronic payment solutions to customers. The company leverages its proprietary software applications, global POS network, and electronic distribution channels to deliver seamless transaction processing services across different products and geographies. Its innovative technology infrastructure ensures effective connectivity between retailers, consumers, businesses, banks, and mobile operators for electronic payments and transactions.

As per its 2021 annual report, Euronet Worldwide has a global reach spanning 47 countries with 7,000+ employees. For FY2021, the company reported total revenues of $2.9 billion. Euronet’s global footprint and diversified portfolio across payments verticals position it strongly to benefit from the sustained growth in electronic payments worldwide.

Key Products and Services

Euronet Worldwide operates through the following three segments to provide payment and transaction processing solutions:

EFT Processing

This is Euronet’s largest segment that accounted for 55% of total revenues in 2021. The EFT (Electronic Funds Transfer) processing division provides end-to-end ATM and POS outsourcing services, card outsourcing, cross-border merchant acquiring, dynamic currency conversion (DCC), and other electronic payment services to financial institutions, retailers, and mobile network operators. Key products and services include:

  • ATM Network and Outsourcing – Euronet is a leading global independent ATM deployer managing a network of over 45,000 ATMs across Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, the United States, and South America. The company offers comprehensive ATM outsourcing services to financial institutions to help expand their distribution networks. This includes ATM driving, monitoring, maintenance, cash management, and other value-added services.
  • POS Services – Euronet provides POS acquiring and processing services for electronic transactions made on cards issued on the Visa, Mastercard, American Express, UnionPay, and other card networks. Its POS services are available in 70+ countries with 400,000 installed POS terminals. The company also offers a suite of value-added services including DCC, advertising on POS terminals, fraud prevention tools, and other features.
  • Prepaid Processing – Euronet provides electronic top-up services for prepaid mobile airtime, prepaid debit cards, lottery tickets, bill payments, and other products through its POS network and direct connections with mobile operators. In 2021, the company processed 2.5 billion prepaid transactions.
  • Card Outsourcing – Euronet offers comprehensive card management and processing services to banks and financial institutions for managing their card portfolios. This includes card issuance, authorization, billing, fraud detection, and customer care services.
  • Cross-border Merchant Acquiring – The company provides payment gateway and merchant acquiring services for cross-border ecommerce transactions. This enables retailers to accept payments on global cards through various payment methods.
  • Money Transfers – Euronet’s Ria Money transfer subsidiary has a network of over 494,000 locations across 164 countries through agent and company-owned stores. It allows consumers to quickly transfer money across geographies using cash, debit/credit card, account transfer, and other methods. In 2021, Euronet processed 83 million transfers worth over $60 billion.

epay Segment

This segment accounted for 30% of Euronet’s revenues in 2021. epay offers electronic distribution and processing of prepaid mobile airtime and other digital content in Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific, North America, South America, and Africa. Consumers can purchase prepaid mobile top-ups and digital products such as apps, games, music, and eBooks at millions of POS terminals and retail locations connected to epay’s electronic distribution network. epay also supports omnichannel content delivery through direct connections with mobile operators and digital aggregators. In 2021, the segment processed 1.3 billion transactions.

Money Transfer Segment

Euronet’s money transfer business is operated through the Ria Money Transfer subsidiary, which accounted for 15% of total revenues in 2021. Ria facilitates fast and secure money transfer services through an extensive network of sending and receiving agents as well as company-owned stores across North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Africa, and the Middle East. Consumers can initiate transfers through cash, debit/credit card, account transfer, and other methods. The money can be picked up by the recipient in cash or deposited directly to the recipient’s bank account. Ria processed over 83 million transfers amounting to over $60 billion in 2021.

Competitive Advantages

Euronet Worldwide has established itself as a leading global payments company through the following key advantages:

Extensive Global Reach and Scale

Euronet has built an immense global network covering 175 countries with millions of electronic channels including ATMs, POS devices, prepaid outlets, and money transfer locations. Its global scale provides the company unparalleled reach for offering electronic payment services across diverse markets worldwide. Euronet is also one of the largest non-bank ATM operators with over 45,000 ATMs in its network. The company’s expansive physical and digital distribution infrastructure provides a competitive edge in the payments space.

Innovative and Proprietary Technology

Euronet has made significant investments in building state-of-the-art technology infrastructure to enable rapid and secure electronic transactions across products and geographies. Its processing platforms are capable of supporting over 5 billion transactions per year with industry-leading service levels. Euronet has also built many proprietary software and applications such as its REV Payments Cloud designed for global acquiring solutions. Its proprietary technology provides flexibility to offer customized payment solutions to customers and achieve faster time-to-market with new product introductions.

Diverse Portfolio of Products and Services

Unlike pure-play companies focusing only on a single product line, Euronet Worldwide has a highly diversified portfolio spanning ATM processing, POS payments, prepaid services, merchant acquiring, money transfers, and more. This provides revenue stability, growth opportunities across verticals, and diversification benefits against technology obsolescence risks concentrated in any single product line. The company can also provide integrated payment solutions by combining capabilities across its diverse product portfolio for greater customer value.

Strong Customer Relationships

By providing mission-critical transaction processing services to major banks, retailers, and mobile operators, Euronet Worldwide has established itself as an invaluable partner for customers. Long-term outsourcing agreements and recurring revenues from key accounts provide stable cash flows. Euronet also has strategic partnerships with leading global brands including Visa, Mastercard, Walmart, Target, Apple, Amazon, and others. These strong customer relationships and strategic deals further bolster Euronet’s competitive positioning.

Growth Drivers for Euronet Worldwide

The global payment processing industry is massive, estimated to be over $2 trillion in transaction volumes annually. This high-growth industry is being shaped by various secular trends that are driving sustained growth of electronic payments worldwide. Euronet is strongly positioned to capitalize on these trends as a leading player with global scale, innovative solutions and strategic partnerships across the payments ecosystem. The key growth drivers are highlighted below.

Proliferation of Digital Payments

Globally, consumers are rapidly adopting digital payment methods such as cards, e-wallets, UPI and other electronic modes. The share of digital transactions is rising sharply relative to cash payments. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has further accelerated adoption of contactless electronic payments. These shifts provide significant long-term growth runway for Euronet’s digital payment solutions. The company also benefits as more first-time users enter the formal financial system in emerging economies.

Increase in Outsourcing by Financial Institutions

Banks and financial institutions are increasingly outsourcing their ATM network management, card issuance processing, merchant acquiring and other functions to specialized providers like Euronet to reduce costs and improve efficiency. Euronet is a leader in the ATM and card outsourcing space with specialized technology infrastructure and operational capabilities. Its outsourcing revenue streams are likely to expand as financial institutions focus more on their core lending businesses.

Growth in e-Commerce and m-Commerce Transactions

Worldwide retail e-commerce sales are growing at over 15% annually, leading to rapid growth in online transactions. Mobile commerce is also rising exponentially as consumers use smartphones for online shopping. Euronet provides the payment gateway infrastructure that powers cross-border e-commerce and m-commerce transactions. As digital retail expands globally, transaction volumes on Euronet’s networks will grow steadily.

Increasing Use of Prepaid Products

The global prepaid cards market has witnessed remarkable growth with transaction value estimated to reach US$ 5.5 trillion by 2026. Consumers and businesses are using prepaid cards as payment tools instead of cash for various use cases. Euronet’s global distribution network drives the expansion of prepaid mobile top-up and other digital content. Prepaid growth provides expansion opportunities across its epay and money transfer segments.

Rise in Cross-border Money Transfers

Cross-border remittances account for a significant share of payments volume globally. The money transfer industry processes over 1 billion transactions annually totaling around US$750 billion in volume. Euronet’s Ria subsidiary has gained strong traction by enabling fast and low-cost digital money transfers through its extensive agent network. As more immigrants and expats use online channels for remittances, it will continue to drive growth.

Recent Developments

Euronet Worldwide continues to expand globally and enhance its offerings through strategic deals, product innovation and geographic expansion. Here are some key recent developments:

  • In August 2022, Euronet extended its long-term ATM network participation agreement with Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), one of the largest banks in the Philippines. As per the renewed agreement, Euronet will add additional ATM machines to BPI’s ATM network and drive transactions on the network.
  • Euronet launched enhanced dynamic currency conversion (DCC) and multi-currency pricing (MCP) solutions for international retailers in June 2021. It allows retailers to display prices in both the shopper’s currency and the local currency while providing cost certainty during foreign transactions.
  • The company expanded its global money transfer network by extending partnerships with Sigue in Latin America and Pakistan’s 1LINK network for interoperability between bank accounts and mobile wallets.
  • In India, Euronet partnered with IndusInd Bank to offer domestic and cross-border money transfer services through the bank’s network. It has expanded partnerships with leading Indian banks like SBI, Axis Bank, and ICICI Bank.
  • Euronet deployed additional ATM machines across key markets. This included 3,100 more ATMs across Europe, APAC, and the U.S. Its global ATM network expanded to over 45,000 machines operational across 55 countries.
  • In Europe, Euronet completed strategic acquisitions of PE Systems and Paysafe Holdings UK to expand its POS acquiring footprint and onboard additional merchants.

Financial Performance and Outlook

Despite the challenges posed by COVID-19, Euronet Worldwide has delivered a resilient financial performance over the past three years:

  • Revenues – Euronet’s total consolidated revenues increased from $2.7 billion in 2019 to around $2.9 billion in 2021 driven by recovery across segments after the initial pandemic impact.
  • Operating Income – The company’s operating income has steadily improved from $276 million in 2019 to around $325 million in 2021 as business activity rebounded globally.
  • EPS – Euronet reported a strong growth in adjusted earnings per share from $6.03 in 2019 to $7.66 in 2021.

The outlook for further growth remains positive supported by strong secular tailwinds in the payments industry, new product rollouts, strategic partnerships, and continued expansion in emerging markets. The company aims to achieve $4 billion in revenue in the next five years through its growth strategy focused on technology innovation, new services, and geographic expansion. Overall, Euronet Worldwide remains one of the top players in the payments space well positioned to deliver robust long-term growth.

Key Competitors

Euronet faces competition across its various product segments from both global players and smaller regional companies. Some of its major competitors are:

  • Fiserv – A Fortune 500 company providing financial services technology and account processing solutions to banks, retailers, and businesses globally.
  • Western Union – Global leader in cross-border money transfer services to consumers and businesses in over 200 countries.
  • Global Payments – Provides payment technology services and merchant acquiring solutions to merchants, banks, and capital market firms globally.
  • Blackhawk Network – Offers gift cards, prepaid credit cards, telecom and gaming cards, and digital payment solutions for consumers and businesses.
  • FIS – A leader in financial software, services and technology solutions for merchants, banks, and capital markets firms.
  • Mastercard – Global payment processor that offers electronic funds transfer services, POS processing, prepaid card products, and emerging payment technologies.
  • Visa – The world’s largest retail electronic payments network enabling secure payments across products like debit, credit, prepaid cards, and more.

While facing competition, Euronet has managed to differentiate itself through its global scale, end-to-end product portfolio, strategic partnerships, proprietary technology and focus on innovation. Its diversified payments solutions and extensive distribution network provide a distinct competitive advantage versus peers focused only on narrow offerings.

Conclusion and Outlook for Euronet Worldwide

In its 25+ year journey, Euronet Worldwide has established itself as a leading global provider of payment and transaction processing solutions. Its extensive network spanning over 175 countries, innovative technology infrastructure, and diverse portfolio of electronic payment products provide unique capabilities.

Key trends like the rise of digital payments, e-commerce expansion, increasing payment outsourcing and growth in prepaid products are significant tailwinds for Euronet’s future growth. Backed by its competitive strengths and focus on technology innovation, Euronet is strongly positioned to deliver robust long-term growth as the payments industry continues its secular transformation.

Investors can consider Euronet Worldwide as a promising long-term investment opportunity. The company is playing a pivotal role in the global transition towards efficient electronic payment infrastructure for consumers and enterprises. While competition remains, Euronet has the scale, customer relationships and technology platform to maintain its leadership position. Its growth story remains intact as the world moves rapidly towards becoming cashless over the coming decade.