Shift4’s Biggest Deal: $2.5B Acquisition of Global Blue Goes Through

Shift4’s Biggest Deal: $2.5B Acquisition of Global Blue Goes Through
Shift4’s Biggest Deal: $2.5B Acquisition of Global Blue Goes Through

Hey Payments Fanatic!

Shift4 Payments has officially closed its $2.5 billion acquisition of Global Blue.

So, who’s Global Blue? They are a Swiss-based leader in tax-free shopping and currency conversion technologies. This marks the largest acquisition in Shift4’s history, accelerating its expansion across luxury retail and global travel markets.

Now integrated, Shift4 will offer a powerful all-in-one payment terminal combining:

  • VAT refund,
  • Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC),
  • and global payment processing services.

"This marks the largest acquisition in Shift4’s history and reinforces our track record of bold moves," said Taylor Lauber, CEO of Shift4.

The deal also marks the launch of a new partnership with Ant International and Tencent, enabling wider distribution of Alipay+ and WeChat Pay through Shift4’s platform.

But that’s not all, Shift4 is also set to acquire Smartpay, a payments provider in Australia and New Zealand, in a NZ$296.4 million deal, pending regulatory approval.

With these strategic acquisitions, Shift4 is rapidly positioning itself as a global payments powerhouse serving merchants from high-street luxury brands to next-gen commerce platforms.

Read more global payment industry updates below 👇 and I'll be back with more tomorrow!

Cheers,

Marcel


INSIGHTS

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NEWS

🌍 How Getnet is driving its evolution and staying at the forefront of the sector with Rubén Justel, CEO of Getnet Europe. He said, “Getnet is a global payments platform focused on offering complete, secure, and efficient solutions for both small businesses and large international clients. Our value proposition is based on facilitating digital business growth through technological solutions.”

🇬🇧 British FinTech Zilch on the hunt for overseas bid targets. The payments company is working with advisers to identify smaller international peers to acquire as part of efforts to expand ahead of a bumper stock market listing, Sky News learns. Read more

🇩🇪 Lynck Solution GmbH and Mastercard jointly bring Open Banking payments "Pay by Bank" secured by Mastercard live for merchants. This collaboration marks a crucial milestone in redefining e-commerce payments for merchants and end customers. By integrating Mastercard Open Banking technology, Lynck is expanding its payment portfolio with a secure, flexible, and efficient digital payment method.

🇨🇳 China issues first long-term non-bank payment licenses. The People's Bank of China (PBOC) has ushered in a new era for China's non-bank payment sector, announcing the first wave of renewed “long-term” payment business licenses for 13 institutions.

🇬🇧 Bank of England considers stablecoins for wholesale markets and shifts regulatory stance. Sasha Mills, Executive Director of Financial Market Infrastructure at the Bank of England, indicated a more receptive attitude towards stablecoins in wholesale markets during her speech at the City Week conference.

🌍 FinSei Ltd partners with FinHub.cloud to accelerate next-generation payment solutions across the UK and Europe. This collaboration will boost FinSei's scalability, security, and operational efficiency across the UK and Europe. Read more

🇺🇸 Ramp launches enhanced corporate cards that integrate with accounting platforms. The new cards feature spending controls that can be customized by employees or departments, instant issuance of virtual and physical cards, fraud detection tools, and the ability to assign dedicated virtual cards for vendor subscriptions.

🇦🇺 AusPayNet launches public consultation on account-to-account payments. The consultation aims to identify the current and future payment needs and expectations of users, AusPayNet said in a statement posted on its website on 2 July 2025.

🇧🇪 SurePay rolls out Verification of Payee in Belgium, enabling the country's banks to perform mutual VoP checks with counterparts in the Netherlands. VoP is a security measure that verifies the identity of payment recipients before transactions are completed.

🇧🇷 BC suspends Pix participants Transfeera, Nuoro Pay, and Soffy. The decision was taken as a result of the hacker attack that began over the weekend, with the invasion of C&M Software, which affected six institutions. The suspension was based on Article 95-A of BCB Resolution No. 30 of October 29, 2020.


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