Skip to content

ANZ joint venture partner embroiled in global payments scandal

ANZ’s plan to buy back its payments business stake has gained fresh urgency after its partner Worldline was linked to a scandal involving high-risk clients.

Andrew Cornell
Make us a preferred source
Global payments giant and ANZ joint venture partner Worldline is embroiled in a new financial crime scandal which challenges the Australian business. Shutterstock.

A “dirty payments” scandal engulfing global payments giant — and ANZ joint venture partner — Worldline has brought renewed attention to ANZ’s proposal to unravel the partnership.

Overnight, major European news outlets published an investigation titled Dirty Money by the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) journalism consortium, alleging that Worldline concealed and conspired to maintain relationships with prohibited and high-risk merchants — typically online gambling and dating services.

ANZ sold its merchant acquiring business, which processes merchant payments, into a joint venture with Worldline in 2020, receiving just over €300 million ($537 million) for a 51% controlling stake.

In December, Capital Brief broke the news that ANZ was looking to buy back the stake, as Worldline struggled globally and the Australian arm, ANZ Worldline, underperformed.