Viva Wallet, the European payments and banking technology group backed by JPMorgan Chase, returned to positive operating profitability in 2025 as transaction volumes surged across the continent, even as tensions between the company’s founder and its largest strategic shareholder escalated into a public confrontation.
The Athens-founded fintech said revenues rose 26% last year to €258.6 million, driven largely by growth in merchant acquiring and transaction-clearing services, which accounted for roughly three quarters of total turnover. Gross profit increased 34%, outpacing revenue growth and signaling improving operating efficiency as the company expanded its footprint across Europe.
The company posted adjusted EBITDA of €16.8 million in 2025, reversing a loss of €25.6 million a year earlier. Total payment volumes reached €37.2 billion across nearly 605 million transactions, according to annual financial statements released by the group.
The results mark a significant turnaround for Viva Wallet, which has spent the past several years trying to position itself as a pan-European alternative to traditional banks and global payments firms by combining payment processing, banking services and financing tools under a single regulatory framework.
But the financial recovery was overshadowed by an unusually direct attack from founder and Chief Executive Haris Karonis against JPMorgan, which acquired a stake in the company in 2022 at a valuation reported at the time to approach €2 billion.
In a letter included in the company’s annual board report, Karonis accused the Wall Street bank of systematically obstructing Viva Wallet’s strategic development and undermining its valuation. He described 2025 as one of the most difficult years in the company’s history, claiming management operated under “relentless external pressure” originating not from regulators or market conditions, but from the conduct of its own shareholder.
Karonis alleged that JPMorgan blocked or delayed several strategic initiatives, including planned corporate restructurings, the development of special purpose vehicles and expansion into the U.S. market.
He said unresolved issues linked to U.S. banking regulations had effectively stalled key projects and contributed to what he described as the slowest growth period in the company’s history during late 2025.
The Viva Wallet chief also criticized JPMorgan over a legal dispute that saw lawsuits totaling €1 billion filed against members of the company’s board, a move he described as a “calculated act of intimidation.” According to Karonis, the litigation created internal disruption and damaged market confidence before the claims were later withdrawn following a ruling by an English court.
He further accused the U.S. bank of sending contradictory signals to the market regarding Viva Wallet’s valuation, saying estimates had shifted sharply downward from the levels discussed at the time of JPMorgan’s investment, creating uncertainty among investors and affecting employee stock-option plans.
The unusually public criticism highlights growing strains inside one of Europe’s more closely watched fintech partnerships, at a time when many financial technology firms are facing pressure to demonstrate sustainable profitability after years of aggressive expansion. Despite the dispute, Viva Wallet said it entered 2026 with momentum exceeding internal forecasts. First-quarter revenues rose 28% across most of its markets, while the company said its annualized growth trajectory was running at around 18%, above the 12% projected in its revised business plan.
The group has now expanded operations to 29 European countries under the European Union’s “Freedom to Provide Services” regime and said it is preparing to launch lending and factoring products alongside its payments platform. Management also said artificial intelligence tools have been integrated throughout the organization to improve efficiency and support future scaling. Viva Wallet argues that its integrated model is increasingly well positioned in Europe’s fragmented financial-services market, where small and midsize businesses often face limited access to credit and must navigate separate providers for payments, banking and regulatory compliance.
As part of its broader restructuring, the company is moving ahead with a reverse merger of Viva Wallet Holdings into Vivabank, a transaction designed to consolidate operations under a single licensed banking entity serving the European Union. The deal remains subject to approval from the Bank of Greece and shareholders of the merging entities.
