In this episode of the Connector Podcast recorded at the DFS Digital Finance Summit in Brussels, host Koen Vanderhoydonk interviews two Worldline executives, Nathalie and Claire. The conversation begins with an overview of Worldline as a global payment and transaction services provider operating in over 50 countries, highlighting its three pillars—innovation, security, and sustainability—and its dual focus on merchants and financial institutions in Belgium. The guests detail Worldline’s substantial R&D investment (€257 million in 2023) and its close collaboration with fintechs to stay ahead of market trends. They describe the company’s multi‑industry customer base, covering banks, merchants, e‑commerce, retail, and transportation, and explain their partnership philosophy: “go fast alone, go far together.” The interview explores Worldline’s engagement with emerging technologies, including a multi‑rail strategy that integrates traditional card and account rails with blockchain/DLT initiatives, the digital euro, and digital wallets. The company’s response to the surge in digital and contactless payments is outlined, emphasizing mobile payment platforms, secure QR‑code transactions, instant payments, and a strategic move to cloud‑based solutions. Looking ahead, Worldline envisions payments becoming a friction‑less commodity deeply embedded in daily life, while committing to sustainability and reducing its environmental footprint. Claire expands the discussion to “beyond payments,” covering open‑banking APIs, digital identity solutions, and a corporate focus on sustainability and financial inclusion. She explains Worldline’s API‑driven data strategy, developer portal, sandbox environment, and rigorous compliance with PSD2 and upcoming PSD3, PSR, and FIDAR regulations, including strong customer authentication and consent management. The role of artificial intelligence is highlighted through a fraud‑detection scoring engine that improves detection by over 30% versus rule‑based methods, as well as AI‑enhanced biometric authentication and generative AI for automated email responses. Finally, the guests describe Worldline’s participation in the DFS summit, including a matchmaking initiative that invites fintechs to pitch solutions, underscoring the company’s intent to forge partnerships that shape the future of payments.
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Welcome to the Connector Podcast, an ongoing conversation connecting fintechs, banks, and regulators worldwide. Join CEO and founder Cohen van der Huydonk as you learn more about the latest available trends and solutions in the markets.
Welcome to another podcast, a Connector Podcast at the DFS. Digital Finance Summit here in Brussels 2024, organized by Belgium Fintech. And I have the pleasure to have 2 people in front of me, Nathalie and Claire, both from Worldline. So can I start maybe by introducing Worldline?
Yes, sure. So Worldline is actually a global player in payment and transaction services, providing comprehensive solutions across the entire payment chain. Our headquarters is located in France and we operate in more than 50 countries. Worldline really sets its commitment to innovation, security, and sustainability. Those are 3 pillars really important for Worldline. We have also a unique blend of expertise in innovation, which enables us to address the evolving needs of our customers and in an increasing digital economy. So we have actually in Belgium 2 sorts of customers. On one side we have the merchants and on the other side we have the financial industry. We are actually well known on the market for the payment terminals that you see at every shop or also the famous card stop service. I think that in one word or in a few words, that's who is Worldline on the Belgian market.
And there's a lot of evolution happening within the payments industry. So How does that actually translate to Worldline?
To stay at the forefront of payment technology, Worldline really invests significantly in research and development. We actually spent €257 million in 2023, which is quite big. And we also maintain a really close collaboration with fintech, and that's why we are here today. So we continuously monitor the market trends and evolution. through our customers, but also connecting with fintechs.
Well, talking about connection, I'd like to understand a little bit more, like, are you actually going beyond the payment industry? Are you also touching retail, transportation, maybe e-commerce? How does that work?
Indeed, we have 3 big industries or 3 big sorts of customers at Worldline. We have on one side, as I said before, we have the financial industry which we serve. So I take as an example all the banks in the Belgian market. We also have the merchants where we provide smooth customer experience payment in the day-to-day world and also the e-commerce, which is really exploding since the COVID time.
And you said you're here to collaborate, to partnership. What is your strategy in making partnerships globally?
So, Worldline is actually consistently developing strategic partnerships, and we really would like— we are really willing actually to bolster our position as leading payment service provider. And this is why we're making alliances not only with fintechs, but also with pioneers in the industry, but also with financial institutions. So, this is really one of our goals. As we see within Worldline, If you want to go fast, go alone. But if you want to go far, go together. And that's really the meaning of having partnerships.
You guys work also a lot with traditional banks. Do you also work with like latest technologies such as maybe blockchain or DLT, crypto, digital wallets? I'm just naming a few.
Yeah, yeah. So indeed, we are in all these initiatives and we leverage really our position as a multi-rail player. To ensure seamless integration between traditional banking, which is our core business, and also emerging payment technology. So the company supports our conventional card, but also account rails, which is key. We have the initiative with Wiro where we are participating, but also we have the digital euro where we have a proactive approach there. So we are there to support the development of the payment industry.
In the market, we see a shift from digital and contactless payments. How have you adapted to this growing demand for secure and fast payments?
Yes, indeed. We are on a day-to-day proactively adapting our offering to address the increasing demand of digital and contactless payments. That's for sure. So, we are investing in technologies such as mobile payment platforms, but also secure QR code transactions. And we really prioritize this innovation in our day-to-day work. We have been at the forefront to facilitate instant payment as well, as I just said. So next to that, we have also a clear strategy on the move to the cloud, move to cloud. So we know that our customers have the same strategy, and that's also at the core of our strategy for the future.
Talking about the future, would you be able to enlighten us a little bit more? What can we expect in the near future from Worldline?
Yes. So what we foresee as a future, that's where digital payment will not be only seamless and secure, but also deeply integrated in our daily life. And that's key because that's going to be really a commodity. So payment will need to be integrated in our day-to-day life. So we will need to have frictionless payment experience. And we are really committed to driving sustainability also in payments because we know that that's a key objective also for Worldline is to be sustainable and reduce our footprint, our environmental footprint for the future.
Well, it almost brings us to what are some new buzzwords in payments like augmented finance, beyond payments. Claire, is that more on your side?
Yes. About beyond payments, I see new areas of services on which Worldline is working. The first one is that Worldline is embracing open banking initiatives, developing APIs that allow third-party developers to build new financial services, enhancing data sharing and interoperability, thus paving the way for innovative financial products that extend beyond payment processing. As well as we are engaging with blockchain technology and decentralized finance to create innovative financial products. Second area is about digital identity. So we are working on digital identity because it has become a crucial asset in the digital economy, serving not only as a means of establishing trust in transactions, but also enabling access to financial services. So that's why digital identity is really key and a link to the payment. and bringing the relationship between identity and value. And last one is really important because it's close to my value. Worldline has a strong corporate strategy focused on sustainability and corporate responsibility. And Worldline is supporting financial inclusion initiatives that ensure a democratized access to financial services Thanks to a greater accessibility. It's really key that all services that we provide can be accessible for everybody.
When you talk about accessibility, then I think data becomes a very crucial part in this. Many say that data is the gold, it's the glue to everything. How do you actually see the use of data and how would you relate that to everything that's happening around banking as a service?
So, Worldline enables financial institutions to leverage financial data securely and foster innovation through an API-driven approach that includes a comprehensive developer portal and a complete sandbox environment for testing.
Mm-hmm.
We are also strongly involved in compliance with PSD2 and preparation for upcoming regulation like PSD3, PSR, and also FIDAR. Ensuring that all APIs meet strong customer authentication to secure the access to the data and also to ensure that the end user can manage their consent to access to the data.
So moving into a self-sovereign society.
Yes, exactly.
And can you elaborate a little bit more on what you guys do around PSD2 and soon PSD3?
Okay. So as a regulated entity, compliance is within our NDA. So Worland ensures that all our payment solutions remain compliant and adaptable to evolving European regulations, like of course PSD2 and PSD3. So for instance, we are participating in regulatory bodies and national payment committees like the NRPT in Belgium and the CNMP in France. And the goal is to be engaged in consultations from the initial stage of the regulation development to the finalization of regulatory technical standards. This ensures that Worldline is well prepared to adapt our solutions, our roadmap, to meet new regulatory requirements, and especially around PSD2, PSD3.
Well, thank you for clarifying. We're here at DFS, and one of the topics is around natural intelligence. So how does Worldline actually integrate AI with us humans' natural intelligence?
So of course, Worldline is working a lot around artificial intelligence. First, about fraud detection and risk management. So for instance, we are using a sophisticated artificial intelligence scoring engine that incorporates transaction analysis, user behavior, and device intelligence And this system led to more— an improvement of more than 30% comparing to the standard rule-based method. So it's really key to use artificial intelligence because the fraudsters are using it. They are doing fraud at scale and they are creating very convincing phishing emails, deepfakes. So that's why it's really important to use also this to be more efficient to detect the fraud. And the last part is on customer experience because we are using also artificial intelligence in biometric authentication, but also on generative AI to generate automatic email responses for bank advisors.
We're almost at the end here of our podcast, the first one of today. And maybe one more last question. What brings Worldline to the DFS?
So actually, we find or we position the DFS as pivotal for us as well because we are willing to strive to partnership with the leading fintech in Belgium because together we are sure we can shape also the future of payment.
No, that's great. And How do they contact you? Where do they come to find you to create these partnerships?
Well, actually, we have a special initiative this afternoon with matchmaking sessions. So we have set a challenge for all the fintechs and we have selected a few. And so they will have a pitch to do this afternoon and we will select also a winner afterwards. So we're looking forward to that.
Oh yeah, all of us. Well, thank you very much for having you in the podcast. Have a lovely day here at DFS, and thank you also to the audience for staying tuned. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
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