Portuguese fintech Eupago invests €5 million in internationalisation in Europe

Eupago will invest five million euros in expanding to European markets such as France and Poland, reinforcing the internationalisation strategy it started in 2019 in Spain, the Portuguese digital payments company announced this Monday.

Quoted in a statement, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Eupago, Telmo Santos, said the company intends to "invest five million euros in the expansion plan for other European markets, with France and Poland as priorities.

In the Iberian Peninsula, where it aims to "lead in the area of digital payments", the Portuguese fintech plans to reinforce the team in Madrid - where it has Carlos Moreno as country manager - and increase the annual volume of digital payments to 10 billion euros in 2027.

Currently, Eupago has 15,000 active accounts in Portugal and 3,500 in Spain, having registered in 2021 an Iberian payment volume of €4,800 million and estimating to reach €6 billion this year.

According to the company, the predicted growth is based on the "growing movement of demand from Spanish companies for Portuguese payment methods, in particular MBway and MB [ATM] references", as a way to "increase their sales in Portugal".

"We are already operating with many Spanish companies that, by providing Portuguese payment methods, are able to trigger sales without obstacles or bureaucracy, and can easily act in both markets," explains Telmo Santos.

According to Eupago, this movement happens because "in Spain there is a strong bet by companies on Bizum, a payment method similar to MBway in Portugal, which has 22 million users, more than double the Portuguese population.

"For this reason - he explains - Eupago already makes the Bizum solution available in Spain, in order to increase its penetration in the Spanish market and, with this, open doors to other European markets."

According to data from the Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (CNMC), cited by the Portuguese company, Spain moved 48,000 million euros in 2020, diluted in 976 million transactions.

Claiming leadership in the Portuguese market in the area of digital payments, where it has been operating for eight years, Eupago will mark its presence this week at the e-commerce and digital marketing fair E-Show, in Madrid.