Kviku Bank's acquisition of payment processing contracts from the merged company Rapyd and Valitor

By this decision, the Competition Council authorises Kvika bank hf. („Kvika“) to purchase the specified volume of transaction processing agreements that were to be sold pursuant to decision no. 13/2022 from the merged company Rapyd and Valitors hf., on terms to which Kvika has agreed by signing a settlement with the Competition Authority. The settlement is published in the operative provisions at the end of the decision.

The combined company will temporarily provide services to Kvika, particularly in the areas of technical execution and settlement with the international card schemes. Furthermore, this service entails that Kvika can operate temporarily on the basis of the merger party's master licences from the international card schemes. Under the settlement with the Competition Authority, Kvika has, among other things, committed to transferring the aforementioned services to another service provider that is not a major transaction acquirer in Iceland, by a specified deadline. This is an important step in ensuring the permanent competitive independence of Kvika from the combined entity. Furthermore, the settlement includes provisions, among other things, to ensure that Kviku's payment processing services will not be operated in a subsidiary owned by the bank unless certain conditions are met.

The Competition Authority does not consider further intervention to be necessary regarding Kviku's acquisition of the aforementioned transaction processing agreements, as covered by the provisions of the aforementioned settlement between Kviku and the Competition Authority, and the provisions of the aforementioned settlement between the Competition Authority and Rapyd.