The company is founded in August 2011 by Achim Bönsch, Sebastian Seifert and Florian Swoboda.
The company’s first product “Barzahlen” is under development. The year 2012 was used for successful cash register integration at dm, real,- and mobilcom-debitel and the first online merchants are also on board. The ALSTIN group is investing in the successful development of the company.
On Wednesday, 13th March 2013 the network goes live in Germany. In addition to first mover dm drogerie markt (1,390 POS), real,- supermarkets and mobilcom-debitel shops join the retail-network in the course of the year. On top of online-shops and the gaming industry, the first customer from the energy supply sector joins forces: Stadtwerke Düsseldorf
viafintech’s prominent German product Barzahlen is honoured as the best payment service 2014 and awarded with the IT Innovation Award. Our online shop network grows to several thousand: Over 7000 online-shops, travel and gaming providers use our service.
viafintech expands its services to other industries and sectors and is now actively involved in dunning, insurance and telecommunication. Additionally a solution for banking deposits and withdrawals is introduced. By the end of 2015 the retail-partner network in Germany is joined by about 3000 REWE stores.
The GRENKE BANK AG invests in viafintech. In 2016 the focus is on going live with the banking solution for withdrawals and deposits from and to private bank accounts. Challenger bank N26 as well as the German DKB start offering the new service right away.
Additional banks use our independent infrastructure for expanding their own branch network, for example Sparda Banken and the first Sparkasse.
Rossmann, Germany’s second-largest drugstore chain, joins our retail-partner network. Furthermore, Barzahlen launches in Austria with dm and N26 as first partners – a cornerstone for the company’s internationalization process
viafintech significantly extends its POS network in Europe: In Austria the REWE International AG goes live with the trade partners BILLA, BIPA, MERKUR and Penny. At the beginning of February the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) implement our service in all their ticket machines. Finally in May the first non-German-speaking country joins the network: In Italy we onboard PAM Panorama as a retailer and the two banks N26 and Hype as merchants. Later in the year also PAM Local stores offer viafintech services. Furthermore, two banks join in 2019: Targobank and bunq. In 2019 we launch our international brand viacash that will replace the german brand Barzahlen in the long-term.
With PENNY Market Italia joining, the network in Italy is now counting almost 600 POS. Moreover the City of Cologne is continuing its pilot project with us, so that since July it is possible to pay parking tickets in the retail trade. In addition, Greece is part of the network since November with 110 Bazaar shops, which means that the European brand is continuing to grow. Since the beginning of December we are presenting ourselves under the new company name viafintech GmbH. In Germany and Austria, the product name is also changing from Barzahlen to Barzahlen/viacash, the first step towards soon appearing with a uniform European brand.