The company was formed from the combination of Neteller PLC, Netbanx Ltd and Optimal Payments Limited. Netbanx was founded in 1996, Optimal Payments in 1997, and Neteller in 1999. In April 2004, Neteller PLC raised about $70 million in its initial public offering on the London Stock Exchange. In November 2005, Neteller PLC acquired Netbanx Ltd. In November 2008, Neteller PLC renamed itself to Neovia Financial PLC. In February 2011, Neovia Financial PLC acquired Optimal Payments of Montreal, Canada. Next month, Neovia Financial PLC changed its name to Optimal Payments PLC. In early 2012, the acquisition was revealed to be a reverse takeover with the purging of a number of the senior management along with the chairman of the board. In July 2014, Optimal Payment PLC expanded its United States interests by purchasing Meritus Payment Solutions, a California based payment processing company, and Global Merchant Advisors, Inc. based in the U.S. in a deal worth over $235 Million. In March 2015, Optimal Payments PLC revealed that it would acquire rival Skrill group, including pre-paid voucher provider paysafecard, for a fee of around €1.1 billion. In the same year, Optimal Payments rebranded as Paysafe Group. The company moved to the main market of the London Stock Exchange in December 2015. On 25 November, 2016, Paysafe Group, owner of Neteller and Skrill, restricted the use of the Net+ Prepaid MasterCard to countries within the Single Euro Payments Area. This left users in over 100 countries unable to withdraw cash from ATM's, which left no recourse but to make purchases with Neteller/Skrill merchant partners or transfer funds to a bank account. In August 2017, it was announced that Paysafe would be sold to a consortium of The Blackstone Group and CVC Capital Partners for £2.96 billion, making it the largest private equity backed takeover of a London-listed company since the financial crisis of 2007–2008. The acquisition was approved by the European Commission on 22 November, 2017. On 21 December 2017, Paysafe got delisted from the London Stock Exchange. In April 2019, with the likelihood of the upcoming withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, the so-called "Brexit", Paysafe Group announced their plans to prevent any negative effects for their customers and merchants. If Brexit takes place, the company will transfer its European Economic Area business to a newly incorporated group company based in Ireland. “Paysafe Payment Solutions Limited” is authorized and regulated as an electronic money institution by the Irish financial services regulator, the Central Bank of Ireland.
Products and services
The company provides the following products and services:
Neteller is an electronic money/digital wallet service that allows consumers to add, withdraw and transfer funds to and from merchants and other people. Net+ prepaid payment card available in eight currencies is mainly intended to be used with Neteller and is accepted as normal MasterCard payment card.
Skrill is a product that allows payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet, with a focus on low-cost international money transfers.
paysafecard is a prepaid payment method that allows customers to make payments online without the use of a bank account or credit card information.
Payolution is e-commerce payment product which allows customers to 'buy now, pay later'.
Fans Entertainment is a mobile commerce product which offers mobile ordering.
