Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT) executives told investors the company ended 2025 facing “one of the more challenging operating environments” it has seen in some time, citing U.S. immigration policy uncertainty and economic stress among lower-income consumers. On the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call, management said those pressures weighed on growth across all three segments—EFT, epay and Money Transfer—with the most pronounced impact on Money Transfer and epay.
Despite the headwinds, CEO Mike Brown said Euronet produced another year of double-digit earnings-per-share growth and expects that to continue. The company guided to 10% to 15% adjusted EPS growth in 2026, a range management said reflects confidence in its operating trajectory and pipeline of growth initiatives.
Fourth-quarter results: EFT strength offsets softer Money Transfer and epay
On a constant-currency basis, management reported the following fourth-quarter segment performance:
- EFT: revenue +8%, adjusted operating income +12%, adjusted EBITDA +13%.
- epay: revenue approximately -2%, adjusted operating income -7%, adjusted EBITDA -8%.
- Money Transfer: revenue -1%, adjusted operating income -6%, adjusted EBITDA -5%.
Weller also noted fourth-quarter adjusted EPS of $2.39, which he described as another quarter of double-digit year-over-year earnings growth.
Money Transfer: corridor pressure, digital growth and an optimization effort
Management spent significant time discussing Money Transfer results, particularly pressures tied to remittance flows from the U.S. to Mexico. Weller said declines in certain remittance corridors were driven primarily by macroeconomic conditions and immigration-related dynamics affecting senders, with pressure “more specifically, Mexico.” He said financial pressure remained concentrated among low-income households—described as the majority of remittance customers—and that the impact typically shows up first in transaction frequency rather than in the average amount sent.
In the fourth quarter, Euronet said the average amount sent increased 7% to 8% year over year, even as transactions were pressured. Weller cited Central Bank of Mexico data indicating remittances into Mexico fell about 2% in the fourth quarter of 2025 and were down roughly 5% for the full year. He said Euronet’s fourth-quarter results “tracked the industry,” but added that the company’s business delivered a modest increase in remittance volumes for 2025 even as the broader market contracted, which management attributed to share gains, digital expansion and corridor diversification.
Brown and Weller also discussed a business review begun about a year earlier with an external consulting partner. Brown said the effort was prompted by how much the business has scaled since Euronet acquired Ria, and was intended to ensure the organization and operating model match the size of the opportunity and customer base. Weller said the effort is expected to produce approximately $40 million in annual run-rate benefit, with some portion flowing to the bottom line.
The company recorded a $20 million charge related to extending wholesale, SME and consumer digital products, improving end-to-end customer experience and deploying targeted marketing investments. Weller said the net benefit is expected to expand Money Transfer operating margins by about 50 to 75 basis points in 2026, while management indicated further investment could be required to accelerate digital growth.
Brown highlighted continued network and product expansion, including:
- An agreement signed in the fourth quarter with WorldFirst, a U.K.-based fintech owned by Ant Financial, to leverage Euronet’s Dandelion network.
- Ria app launches in Greece, Romania and the Czech Republic.
- Global digital channel results in the quarter of 31% transaction growth and 33% revenue growth, including 33% new customer acquisitions in December.
- New licensed operations launched in Colombia and Panama.
- Ongoing work with Fireblocks toward stablecoin strategies.
EFT: expanding beyond owned ATMs and growing merchant acquiring
Brown called EFT a stabilizing “earnings engine” and said it continues evolving beyond historical reliance on ATM ownership toward payments infrastructure and merchant acquiring. He pointed to “exceptional growth” in merchant acquiring, where he said adjusted EBITDA grew 32% in 2025, and discussed the acquisition of Credia Bank’s merchant acquiring business in Greece. The partnership with Credia, which Brown described as the fifth-largest bank in Greece, is expected to add 20,000 merchants—nearly a 10% increase to Euronet’s acquiring portfolio—and includes additional services such as card issuing infrastructure, ATM outsourcing for branch and off-branch machines, and access to Euronet’s ATM network.
On the call, management said the Credia purchase price was “relatively small,” described as in the “few million dollars.” Executives said the transaction would occur once the business is migrated onto Euronet’s platforms, which they indicated would be more toward the last half of the year.
Executives also provided additional detail on merchant processing across the company. Brown said approximately 80% of merchant-processing volume comes from EFT and about 20% from epay, and said the combined EBITDA of the two merchant-processing businesses is “in the kind of $90-ish million.”
epay: mix shifts, gaming strength and digital distribution
Brown said epay was impacted by global macroeconomic pressures, though he characterized the underlying core epay business as performing well “in a difficult environment.” He highlighted growth and diversification of distribution across physical and digital channels, including expansion of digital content and gaming partnerships and the launch of an open-loop product in a new market.
In the fourth quarter, Brown said gaming-related branded payments performed strongly and make up 37% of total branded payments margin. He also cited expansion of digital content distribution with Revolut to India and New Zealand as part of Revolut’s loyalty program, noting Euronet is now in 20 countries with Revolut and aims to expand further. Brown added that Euronet broadened its partnership with Lidl Supermarkets by adding digital branded payments in Italy and France.
Weller said epay’s fourth-quarter results reflected product mix shifts, continued investment in proprietary offerings and macroeconomic pressures, adding that promotional activity in the B2B channel was lighter year over year while core digital content and payment processing businesses remained stable. Brown said epay’s merchant payment processing revenue grew 21% for the full year.
CoreCard: early wins and integration focus
Brown discussed the company’s acquisition of CoreCard, completed at the end of October, describing it as aligned with expanding into higher-growth fintech areas such as credit card issuance and processing. He cited early momentum, including processing relationships tied to programs such as the Bilt 2.0 credit card and the Coinbase One Card.
In response to an analyst question, management said CoreCard contributed roughly $10 million to $12 million of revenue in the fourth quarter. Brown said Euronet’s near-term focus is integrating CoreCard into its product offering for international markets to enable a more comprehensive end-to-end client offering over time.
Asked about the Apple Card relationship following JPMorgan’s move to become the issuer, Brown said the company did not know the outcome, but suggested retaining the relationship long term could be doubtful based on JPMorgan’s history of bringing services in-house. He said Euronet’s acquisition model assumed Apple would remain through the end of its contract, which management said runs through 2027, and potentially longer.
Full-year performance, cash flow and capital allocation
For the full year, Weller reported revenue of $4.2 billion, adjusted operating income of $550 million, adjusted EBITDA of $743 million and adjusted EPS of $9.61. He said pressure increased in the second half of the year due to macroeconomic conditions and immigration-related policy decisions across several markets, but added that portfolio diversification, disciplined expense management and share repurchases supported another year of double-digit earnings growth. Weller also said consolidated operating margins expanded by about 30 basis points versus the prior year, and he expects that margin trajectory to continue in 2026.
On the balance sheet, Weller said Euronet ended the quarter with $1 billion in unrestricted cash and $2 billion in debt. He said the cash decline largely reflected stock repurchases and debt repayments, partially offset by cash generated from operations. In 2025, the company repurchased $388 million of shares, which Weller said represented essentially all adjusted earnings returned to shareholders through buybacks, excluding shares repurchased and reissued for the CoreCard acquisition.
Looking to 2026, Weller said the company expects free cash flow to improve consistent with the 10% to 15% EPS growth outlook, while management reiterated capital priorities of maintaining leverage aligned with an investment-grade profile, investing in digital growth initiatives and returning excess capital through disciplined repurchases.
About Euronet Worldwide (NASDAQ:EEFT)
Euronet Worldwide, Inc is a global financial technology company specializing in electronic payment services and transaction processing. Through its three primary business segments—Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) Network Services, epay® Prepaid and Payment Services, and Money Transfer—Euronet provides end-to-end solutions that enable secure, efficient and convenient payments for consumers, financial institutions and retailers worldwide.
In its EFT Network Services arm, Euronet operates one of the world’s largest ATM and point-of-sale (POS) terminal networks, offering deployment, management and connectivity services.
