Payments group Worldline shares tumble 41% after allegations by media consortium

By Gianluca Lo Nostro

(Reuters) -Worldline shares lost more than a third of their value on Wednesday after a group of 21 European media outlets alleged that the French digital payments company covered up client fraud to protect revenue.

German regulator BaFin had banned Worldline's German subsidiary Payone from working with 450 clients in 2023 and imposed sanctions on the company for failing to comply with anti-money laundering and anti-fraud requirements. 

The allegations by the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) network of international media outlets said that Worldline,  one of Europe's biggest payment processors with 500 billion euros ($581 billion) of transactions handled annually, has since continued to work with hundreds of those clients through its other subsidiaries, citing internal data.

Reuters could not verify Wednesday's EIC reports and there are  currently no formal regulatory investigations of the company in the public domain.

Worldline said in a statement that, since 2023, it had strengthened merchant risk controls and terminated non-compliant client relationships.

The company also said that it had conducted a "thorough review" of brands it deemed to be higher risk over the past two years, resulting in the cancellation of business worth 130 million euros in revenue.

Worldline added that it maintains "zero-tolerance" for non-compliance with regulations and engages regularly with regulatory authorities.

When asked by Reuters to respond further, Worldline declined to comment beyond its statement.

German financial regulator BaFin declined to comment and pointed to its previous statements on Worldline's Payone after it appointed a special representative to monitor the business in January.

French financial markets authority AMF did not respond immediately to emails and phone calls requesting comment.

Worldline's shares fell as much as 41.2% in Paris to a record low of 2.70 euros.

The stock has lost more than 90% of its value since 2021 after repeated cuts to its financial outlook. The yield on the company's 2030 bond, which it issued this month to raise 550 million euros, jumped by 54% on Wednesday, suggesting higher perceived risk.

(Reporting by Gianluca Lo Nostro in GdanskAdditional reporting by Anna Pruchnicka in Gdansk and Elizabeth Howcroft and Mathieu Rosemain in ParisEditing by Matt Scuffham, Tommy Reggiori Wilkes and David Goodman)