Worldline Stock Crashes Amid ‘Dirty Payments’ Allegations
Posted on: June 26, 2025, 08:07h.
Last updated on: June 26, 2025, 09:55h.
- Allegations of compliance evasion shake investor confidence
- Worldline denies wrongdoing, vows strengthened oversight measures
- BaFin’s prior ban raised questions about merchant practices
Shares in French payments giant Worldline SA (WLN.PA) plunged more than 41% Wednesday following media reports that accused the company of processing payments for high-risk merchants, such as online gambling and porn.
The crash wiped more than €500 million (US$535 million) off the company’s market cap. Worldline’s stock has now lost more than 96% of its value since its mid-2021 all-time high.
‘Dirty Payments’
A collaborative investigation by 21 European media outlets, titled “Dirty Payments,” alleged Worldline shifted high-risk clients between subsidiaries to skirt regulatory oversight. These clients had previously been flagged as posing potential compliance risks by financial regulators.
Most notably, in 2023, Germany’s financial watchdog, BaFin, issued a directive banning Worldline’s German subsidiary, Payone, from doing business with around 450 such merchants.
Internal documents seen by journalists suggest that many of these clients were simply moved to other Worldline entities, such as its Swedish division.
There’s no public evidence that Worldline engaged in fraud or broke the law. However, the report alleges the company may have deliberately hoodwinked regulators to protect certain revenue streams.
Worldline doubled down on its commitment to compliance in a statement Wednesday, claiming it addressed the issue last year. The company said it conducted a full review of its high-risk merchant portfolio in 2023 and jettisoned high-risk clients that were generating around €130 million in annual revenue.
“Worldline has implemented a reinforced risk framework across all business units,” the company said, adding that it cooperates with regulators in Germany, France, and the Netherlands.
Zero Tolerance
In a webcast Thursday, CEO Pierre-Antoine Vacheron told investors that the company had “zero tolerance for noncompliance” and was committed to transparency. Shares rebounded about 12% in early trading following those comments, according to Reuters.
Despite the partial recovery, analysts warned that reputational damage could linger.
“While the company insists that these issues were addressed and [are] already included in guidance, we fear this could impact the stabilization of the company and its free cash flow generation,” JP Morgan wrote in a note.
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