European Payments Services Company Worldline Launches Virtual Showroom in Metaverse

France-based Worldline on Tuesday (May 31) announced the public launch of one of the first virtual showrooms operated by a payments firm.

The company stated in the announcement that the project “aims to bridge the gap between the network of virtual worlds and the real world for eCommerce enterprises and provide its merchants with the opportunities needed to benefit fully from the incredible potential the Metaverse has to offer.”

The Worldline Metaverse showroom went live in March and is located in Decentraland in an area called Crypto Valley.

A feature of the virtual showroom is seamless connections between online retail locations and payments platforms offered by Worldline.

Visitors will regularly find “merchant(s) of the month” with easy connections to Worldline payments platforms.

Worldline stated in the announcement that PAYONE, its joint venture with German Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe, is hosting a “coffee space” where the visitors to the virtual world can interact.

Virtual events will be held on a “virtual stage,” according to the announcement. Activities hosted there will include virtual product demonstrations.

Finally, the virtual world will include projects supporting charities, such as organizations helping Ukraine.

See also: Amdocs, Worldline Team Up to Expand Reach of Subscription Merchants

One of the benefits of the metaverse, according to Worldline, is that visitors who don’t hold cryptocurrency can make purchases from companies that use it for transactions. Worldline stated that crypto processing will be conducted by Bitcoin Suisse.

Sascha Muenger, a metaverse expert at Worldline, said in a prepared statement: “The metaverse, and Web3 overall, is without doubt the next step in the development of the internet and it is vital for us to make sure we harness the opportunities this virtual world will bring. Our plans also involve facilitating access for our merchant base and customers and providing a secure and seamless payment process in the metaverse.”

According to Worldline, the company has 20,000 employees in more than 50 countries.  The company stated that in 2021, its pro forma revenue was “close to” $4 billion.