The accelerated pace of change in consumer behaviours (Buy Now Pay Later - BNPL, integrated insurance services...), new technologies, and the emergence of specialised fintechs are reshaping the payments market. Societe Generale constantly adapts its offering and innovates to address new customer journeys. As an example, the Bank has completed its offering with solutions for marketplaces, as well as payment initiation services for both e-commerce and physical points of sale. To facilitate these new consumer behaviours and continue to offer clients a seamless and integrated payment experience, Societe Generale announces its plan to acquire a majority stake in PayXpert. With this acquisition, Societe Generale would broaden its offering for retail and online merchants and pursue its ambition to be a leading player in payment acceptance in Europe. Since its creation in 2009, PayXpert has offered payment acceptance services for both card and alternative payment methods, locally and internationally, as well as complementary value-added services across multiple channels - including solutions that cater to blind and visually impaired customers. Innovation and payments accessibility to all is a core component of PayXpert’s strategy, which has built a simple, personalised and inclusive services ecosystem and payments experience. PayXpert is also a Payment Institution enabling it to process payments and receive funds from those payments for European merchants. The Fintech has partnerships for processing payments across national and local networks - including Visa, Mastercard, Cartes Bancaires, WeChat Pay, and Alipay - to support consumer payments from more than 170 countries and in over 150 currencies, making day-to-day management easier for merchants. Drawing on Societe Generale’s networks and subsidiaries in France and across Europe, PayXpert would pursue its geographic expansion to serve more merchants with a broader range of integrated services. Societe Generale’s support would allow PayXpert to accelerate its technological and commercial developments. Societe Generale’s experience in merchant acquiring and its expertise in specialised financial services would deepen PayXpert’s offering. Societe Generale’s and PayXpert’s merchant clients would benefit from additional payments, financing and insurance solutions to address an increasingly wider range of customer needs and optimise sales as a result. This would give Societe Generale and PayXpert’s merchant clients access to a payment offering enriched with differentiating and value-added services. “The acquisition of PayXpert would enhance our payment solutions offering by providing increasingly comprehensive and innovative services to our retail and online merchants. It reflects our determination to maintain an integrated approach to payments and is consistent with Societe Generale’s long-standing and innovative policy of cooperation with fintechs,” said Aurore Gaspar Colson, Deputy Head of Societe Generale Retail Banking in France. “Our shared vision, together with the synergy of the Societe Generale and PayXpert teams, would enable us to consolidate an innovative offering for merchants of all sizes. With a modular and multi-acquirer solution geared towards cross-border and omnichannel needs, the envisaged integration would position us as a first-choice player as new specialists enter the market,” stated Nicolas Riegert, Founder and CEO of PayXpert. The execution of the transaction remains subject to the approval of the relevant authorities. It would not have a material impact on the Core Tier 1 ratio of Societe Generale group.