Pornography, scams, casinos: the secrets that sink Worldline

An investigation by Mediapart leads to the collapse of the French online payments giant Worldline on the stock market. And perhaps at its closure

In all likelihood there is more than one series of illicit deals behind the stock market collapse of Worldline, the French fintech which until a few weeks ago was among the European leaders in online payments, with over 500 billion euros of transactions managed every year. And whose shares have drastically collapsed on all stock markets following the Dirty Payments investigation. An investigation conducted by twenty-one newspapers of the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC) network, including the French Mediapart.

Since the day of publication, Worldline shares have lost over a third of their value, putting the group's stability at serious risk. But the story of the collapse goes back a long way. To clarify, as Corriere della Sera writes, in 2021 the price of Worldline shares in Paris had reached 85 euros. For a stock market capitalization of over 23 billion. While today its shares are worth around 3.7 euros. 95% less. For a capitalization of just over one billion. The journalistic investigation tells us perfectly what has happened in recent years.

Scams, pornography and illegal casinos: dirty money in online payments

The Dirty Payments investigation was conducted by Mediapart and 20 other global media outlets. And it demonstrates how "for ten years and with total impunity" Worldline has managed fraudulent or unethical payments on behalf of the worst characters in e-commerce: online scammers, illegal casinos, shady pornographic groups and prostitution websites. The investigation shows how the fintech group has «consciously ignored the fraudulent practices of its high-risk customers (involved in sexual activities, casinos, digital goods and services). Particularly exposed to the risk of fraud and money laundering."

To increase profits and the value of their shares, Worldline executives turned to opaque websites that offered extraordinary returns. Without the slightest concern for the type of activities they encouraged. As the Dirty Payments investigation explains, a standard online trader typically pays less than 5% commissions on each payment to the operator who handles their transactions. At Worldline, more than 580 online merchants identified in the survey were paying commissions above 5%. And at least 350 of them above 10%. And this, the journalists explain, "is a clear indicator of a fraudulent system".