Greece's fintech bank expands JCB collaboration

Viva Wallet's cloud-based payments service will soon reach merchants in 23 European countries through an expanded acceptance agreement with Japan’s JCB card network. The move comes a few weeks after the Greek fintech became a bank.

JCB is adding six more European countries where Viva Wallet is accepted, building on an initial agreement announced late last year, the companies said in a Tuesday press release. The collaboration will support 80,000 merchants in Greece, along with 6,000 U.K. merchants and 3,000 merchants in Belgium, the release said.

Viva Wallet recently finalized its acquisition of the banking license of Calandri, Greece-based Praxia Bank, enabling the firm to begin offering loans and savings products by the end of this year.

To effect the shift, Viva Wallet recently hired Jefferies to raise about $600 million to build a digital bank, according to Finextra.