Prior notification of a concentration (Case M.12132 – GLOBAL PAYMENTS / ERSTE CARD) – Candidate case for simplified procedure
Date: 2025-11-17
Institutions: Directorate-General for Competition, European Commission
Subjects: Central and Eastern Europe, banking, credit, economic concentration, financial services, merger control, payment system, provision of services, technology








C_202506232EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2025/6232


17.11.2025






Prior notification of a concentration
(Case M.12132 – GLOBAL PAYMENTS / ERSTE CARD)
Candidate case for simplified procedure
(Text with EEA relevance)
(C/2025/6232)


1.   
On 6 November 2025, the Commission received notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1).
This notification concerns the following undertakings:






—


Global Payments Inc. (‘Global Payments’, United States),










—


Erste Group Bank AG (‘Erste Holding’, Austria),










—


Erste Card Club d.o.o, (‘Erste Card’, Croatia), currently solely controlled by Erste Holding.




Global Payments and Erste Holding will acquire within the meaning of Articles 3(1)(b) and 3(4) of the Merger Regulation joint control of Erste Card.
The concentration is accomplished by way of purchase of shares.


2.   
The business activities of the undertakings concerned are the following:






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Global Payments is a provider of payment technology and solutions to primarily merchants and financial institutions globally. Its services include merchant acquiring, enterprise and payment management solutions (principally in the US), payment card processing and online payment portal solutions.










—


Erste Holding is a universal financial services provider in Central and Eastern Europe. It offers a wide spectrum of banking services, including retail and commercial banking, investment and private banking, asset management, lending, mortgages and digital banking.










—


Erste Card is active in merchant acquiring in Croatia.






3.   
On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope of the Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved.
Pursuant to the Commission Notice on a simplified treatment for certain concentrations under Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings (2) it should be noted that this case is a candidate for treatment under the procedure set out in the Notice.


4.   
The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed concentration to the Commission.
Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of this publication. The following reference should always be specified:
M.12132 – GLOBAL PAYMENTS / ERSTE CARD
Observations can be sent to the Commission by email or by post. Please use the contact details below:
Email: COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu

Postal address:





European Commission




Directorate-General for Competition




Merger Registry




1049 Bruxelles/Brussel




BELGIQUE/BELGIË







(1)  
            OJ L 24, 29.1.2004, p. 1 (the ‘Merger Regulation’).

(2)  
            OJ C 160, 5.5.2023, p. 1.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2025/6232/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)