EMEA Daily: Goldman Sachs Expands Transaction Banking to EU; Groupe BPCE Merges Payplug and Dalenys

Today in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, Goldman Sachs announced the expansion of its transaction banking services into the European Union and French banking firm Groupe BPCE has united its payment operations under the Payplug brand.

Zenchef Secures $50M Equity Investment to Fuel Growth

French restaurant tech firm Zenchef has secured an investment of over 50 million euros from PSG Equity.

Founded in 2011, Zenchef provides software solutions for restaurants to enhance the customer experience and front-of-house operations. In a press release, the company said that in 10 years it has managed nearly 50 million reservations for more than 7,000 restaurants.

Through Zenchef’s platform, which integrates reservation and venue management, website and digital menu management, marketing activities, click and collect and mobile payments, restaurants can control all their front-of-house operations from a single interface.

Zenchef, which is already available in more than 15 countries, including France, Belgium and Switzerland, intends to use the latest injection of capital to accelerate its growth in Europe.

Goldman Sachs Expands Transaction Banking to EU

Goldman Sachs is bringing Transaction Banking (TxB) to Frankfurt, Germany, before heading to Amsterdam, as the U.S. banker expands into the European Union with its global transaction banking platform.

TxB originally launched in the U.S. in 2020 and the U.K. in 2021. Goldman Sachs said the EU expansion will help foster outreach to new clients across Europe while also deepening relationships with current customers with different banking needs.

TxB provides a cloud-based global platform to serve clients’ treasury needs, including deposits and payments, in over 160 countries in more than 120 currencies, offering account visibility, payments and liquidity positions.

Groupe BPCE Merges Payplug and Dalenys Into Single Payments Subsidiary

French retail banking conglomerate Groupe BPCE announced it is combining two subsidiaries in a move to consolidate the group’s FinTech operations.

Payplug, an omnichannel payments solution designed for small and medium-sized businesses, and Dalenys, an eCommerce-focused payment platform, are being combined and will henceforth operate under the Payplug brand, Groupe BPCE said.

Financial Super App Revolut Adds Pay Later Product in Ireland

Global financial super app Revolut has launched its Pay Later product in Ireland, a country in which it has 1.9 million account holders.

The launch of the installment product comes after it was offered to a select group of customers in the country in June, and after more than 1,000 of those customers purchased products and services with Revolut Pay Later, according to a press release emailed to PYMNTS.

Revolut Pay Later uses an approved credit limit and is not restricted to being used at certain merchant partners. It can be used online or in-store with any merchant that accepts Revolut.

Apple Increasing App Store Prices in Certain European, Asian Countries

Apple is raising the price of apps and in-app purchases in some countries in Europe and Asia as of Oct. 5, though auto-renewable subscriptions will be excluded from the hike.

The new prices will affect Japan, Malaysia, Pakistan, South Korea, Vietnam, Sweden, Poland and all territories that use the euro currency, as well as Chile and Egypt. Price hikes in the Euro market are roughly 20%, while the increases in Japan are about 30%.

The reason for most of the increases s wasn’t provided in the post but could be due to a combination of a strong dollar against a weakening euro and yen, high inflation and interest rates and a weakened world economy. Apple did not respond to PYMNTS’ request for comment.

PayTabs Brings Instant Payments to GCC’s Gig Economy

Omnichannel payment solutions company PayTabs is bringing instant payments to entrepreneurs, freelancers and people working in the gig economy across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC).

PayTabs’ Paymes platform will bring fast payments over social media to freelancers, artisans, consultants, micro-vendors and others who sell their products and services across the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, the company announced in a press release.

MoneyGram Helps e& Offer Mobile Wallets to 160M People

MoneyGram is expanding its partnership with technology and investment group e&, a move the companies say will let nearly 160 million people use the e& mobile wallet to send money around the world in near-real time.

“As a result of our strategy to invest in our digital network that now extends to over 100 countries, we’re seeing increased demand to access our global platform,” MoneyGram Chairman and CEO Alex Holmes said in a press release.

The companies say their money transfer service is live throughout Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Afghanistan. It is expected to launch in Pakistan, Egypt and several other markets in Africa in the next few months.

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