Rêv Worldwide Set to Acquire Netspend Consumer Business

International FinTech Rêv Worldwide announced Monday (Aug. 1) that it will acquire Netspend’s consumer business from Global Payments, in partnership with Searchlight Capital Partners.

The all-cash transaction is valued at $1 billion, and the acquisition brings back Netspend’s founders, Roy Sosa and Bertrand Sosa, who also founded Rêv. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2023, subject to relevant regulatory approvals.

With this sale, Global Payments delivers on its commitment to divest itself from Netspend’s consumer business, allowing the company to focus on its core B2B operations, per the release.

Since the Sosas founded Netspend in 1999, the company’s consumer business has reportedly processed hundreds of billions of dollars of cardholder purchases and established a retail partner network with over 130,000 locations where consumers can load their prepaid and debit card products.

Netspend’s consumer products are also available online via mobile and web channels. Prepaid cards have proven popular the world over as a means of expanding payment options for the financially excluded.

For example, the World Bank estimated that in 2021, 73% of the population in Egypt was underbanked. However, prepaid debit cards are helping to increase the range of spending options available to consumers in the country.

Read more: Startups Use Tech Innovation to Move the Needle on Financial Exclusion in Egypt

“We’ve gone full circle, launching programs with partners around the globe in our journey to provide innovative financial services to underserved mass markets,” said Roy Sosa, Rêv chairman and CEO. “We are very excited by the opportunity to partner with the Netspend consumer team and Searchlight as we deliver new products, expand into new markets and add more value to customers across the world.”

Christopher Cruz, partner, Searchlight, added, “The characteristics of this investment are rare to find. Combining an industry-leading operation in Netspend’s consumer business with modern platform technology and digitally native solutions from Rêv unlocks great growth potential by meeting the needs of a significant and sizable market.”

Rêv provides mobile-first payment solutions and offers Banking-as-a-Service capabilities for partners around the world, including Etihad Airways, Itaú Private Bank and LATAM Airlines.

Bertrand Sosa, president of Rêv, noted that “the market opportunity for Netspend’s consumer business has always been massive, as evidenced by the history of growth the company has experienced. Now we have a chance to expand upon it globally by leveraging unique synergies we bring along with our entrepreneurial spirit.”