By Paulina Duran
SYDNEY, March 27 (Reuters) - Payments group Worldpay WP.N said on Wednesday it was expanding its business in Australia and New Zealand, a new heavyweight disruptor vying for the business of the established payment networks and banks servicing most local firms.
The payment technology giant will open two offices in Australia as it seeks to benefit from rapid growth in the country's almost $30 billion e-commerce industry, Worldpay General Manager of Global eCommerce for Asia Pacific, Phil Pomford, said.
"We see growth opportunities to come into a market where there is rising employment, great population growth, and where the shift into the e-commerce and mobile commerce is significant," Pomford told Reuters in a telephone interview.
It will first target businesses in the online retail, travel, digital content and online gaming industries.
Worldpay is a major player in card and alternative payments globally, and particularly in Britain.
It was this month acquired by Fidelity National Information Services Inc FIS.N in the biggest deal to date in the fast-growing electronic payments industry, valuing the company at $43 billion. Australia, the Ohio-based company already provides services for a number of digital-centric businesses such as travel websites Lonely Planet and Webjet, and online social gaming company Virtual Gaming World.
"[With the new offices] we will be better able to attract new customers and service them going forward," Pomford said.
Worldpay competes against established credit card payment providers such as Visa (NYSE:V) V.N , Mastercard (NYSE:MA) MA.N , American Express (NYSE:AXP) AXP.N , merchant payment services issued by Australian banks, as well as with Dutch tech competitor Adyen ADYEN.AS .
It processes over 40 billion transactions annually through more than 300 payment types across 146 countries and 126 currencies, according to its website.
The company has also been granted a new payments licence in New Zealand, Pomford said.