Payments

Payoneer has acquired Optile, a German payment platform that gives businesses access to any payment method and provider. With the acquisition, Payoneer wants to further build a platform that drives global growth for enterprises, marketplaces and small and medium-sized business worldwide.

Cards are the preferred payment method in Europe, for both consumers and merchants. The use of cards has expanded over the past few years, with 87 percent of European consumers feeling comfortable paying by card.

Payments Europe is a new association, formed by European and global card-based payment solution providers. The new organization wants to present the industry's common views and advocate for a fair regulatory environment in Europe.

Payconiq, a mobile payment app supported by several Benelux banks, wants to expand further in Europe. To achieve this goal, it just raised 20 million euros in a funding round led by its existing shareholders.

Most growth of a European country's ecommerce market can be expected in the Czech Republic, where it's predicted the online retail industry will grow 16 percent between now and 2021. That's more than in other European markets.

Dutch online payment processor Mollie has raised 25 million euros from a group of technology and payment entrepreneurs. With the money, Mollie wants to accelerate its expansion through Europe.

Consumers in Europe think security is more important than convenience when it comes to paying online. But in the UK, the difference is quite small. Over half of Brits chose security, while 43 percent selected convenience.

Barely two years after Klarna announced its peer-to-peer payment app called Wavy, the Swedish company pulls the plug on the app. Some functions of the social payment application will be integrated into the Klarna app.

J.P. Morgan was named the number one ecommerce acquirer, by web transaction volume, in Europe. When the overall transaction volume is taken into account, the financial services provider happens to be the fourth largest merchant acquirer in Europe.

iDeal is getting increasingly popular among Dutch consumers. The payment method was used for 59 percent of online purchases in the Netherlands last year. That's an increase of 3 percentage points compared to the situation one year before.

Consumers in Ireland are rapidly increasing their usage of card payments. At the same time, paying with cash is getting less popular. The fast growth in popularity of card payments goes hand in hand with a significant increase in online shopping in the past year.

Starting today, AliExpress customers in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Finland can choose when and how they want to pay for their goods. This is the result of a partnership between Klarna and AliExpress' payment service provider Adyen.

Apple Pay is coming soon to the Netherlands. And the first partner is known. Major bank ING will be the one introducing Apple Pay on the Dutch market. It's not exactly clear when consumers will be able to pay with Apple Pay in the Netherlands.

eBay is introducing its Managed Payments offering in Germany, making this the second country, after the United States, where eBay gives consumers flexibility and choice in payment methods.

Ant Financial, the Alibaba-owned fintech company, has acquired currency exchange and payments company WorldFirst. By taking over the UK company, Chinese internet giant Alibaba can take a major step into Europe.