Worldline, HEC Paris and the HEC Foundation join forces to explore the future of payments

This Chair will be headed by David Restrepo Amariles, Associate Professor of Law and Artificial Intelligence at HEC Paris and holder since 2019 of the course 'The Future of Money: Innovations and Policy'. Professor Restrepo will coordinate research around innovation in payments and digital currencies, payments infrastructure and technology ecosystem, regulation, data analytics and new business models in the payments industry. This research aims to publish in leading academic journals, develop prototypes, write media articles, case studies, and organise international conferences.

This partnership will give Worldline the opportunity to participate in three master's level elective courses at HEC Paris on "The Future of Money and Payments" thematics. Worldline experts will speak on diverse topics, based on concrete use cases developed by the Group. These electives focus on technology, digital strategy and regulation of money and payments and are offered within the CEMS International Business Master’s in Management programme, the Digital Business programme and the LLM in International Law and Management.

The Chair will also lead to the creation of a unique teaching certificate in the payments industry, "The Future of Money and Payments", which will be offered to final year Masters, MBA and Executive MBA students starting from spring 2024.

In addition, the new Worldline Chair will support the new Centre "The Future of Money and Digital Assets" at HEC Paris. This centre will have the mission of creating a network of key players, academics and experts from different backgrounds - investors, regulators, banks and central banks, start-ups, etc. - around payment problematics and techniques. The Centre will host researchers on campus, organise workshops and conferences on these themes and will also aim to stimulate innovation, development and entrepreneurship in coordination with HEC Paris ecosystem and HEC Incubator based at
Station F.

This Chair is part of an already long-standing cooperation between Worldline and HEC Paris, notably with the joint creation of several education programmes since 2014.

Eloïc Peyrache, Dean and Managing Director of HEC Paris: “The signing of this partnership marks a next step in a long-term collaboration focused on teaching and research. This Chair will allow us to deepen and disseminate knowledge about the payment sector and its future, as we at HEC Paris are keen to contribute both from an ethical and a technological point of view to the concrete problems of our world.”

Gilles Grapinet, CEO of Worldline, says: “The Paytech industry is an absolutely fascinating world, with technologies that are part of every citizen's daily life. Secure, regulated and highly innovative, this sector needs more than ever experts of excellence. In order to encourage and inspire vocations, Worldline has long wanted to participate in the creation of training courses and programmes that will enable us to draw the best talents from the source. This partnership allows us to make our vision a reality and we are delighted to be associated with the prestigious institution of HEC Paris, to help students discover our businesses and reflect on the major technological issues in the sector alongside talented professors and students.

Olivier Sevillia, President of the HEC Foundation, adds: "We are delighted with this new phase of the partnership with Worldline, which will foster knowledge, new ideas and innovations in the payments sector. Thanks to the support of its patrons, the Foundation gives HEC the means to explore new fields of research and to irrigate its programmes with innovative content that directly benefits the participants.”

About Worldline

Worldline [Euronext: WLN] helps businesses of all shapes and sizes to accelerate their growth journey – quickly, simply, and securely. With advanced payments technology, local expertise and solutions customised for hundreds of markets and industries, Worldline powers the growth of over one million businesses around the world. Worldline generated a 4.4 billion euros revenue in 2022. worldline.com

Worldline’s corporate purpose (“raison d’être”) is to design and operate leading digital payment and transactional solutions that enable sustainable economic growth and reinforce trust and security in our societies. Worldline makes them environmentally friendly, widely accessible, and supports social transformation.

About HEC Paris

Founded in 1881, HEC Paris is a leading European Business School. Its ambition is to positively impact both businesses and society thanks to its three-pronged approach “Think, Teach, Act” and thus to contribute to a more inclusive, sustainable and prosperous world.

With 160 research professors from all around the world producing and teaching unique knowledge to more than 4,500 students from 135 different countries, the HEC Paris campus serves as a real laboratory for innovation and exchange which is open to the world’s diversity and challenges.

Inspired by its 5 core values -Excellence, Curiosity, Entrepreneurial spirit, Diversity and Responsibility- HEC Paris offers a complete range of training courses for the leaders of tomorrow: the Pre-Experience Program, specialized masters, MSc, the Summer School, the MBA, the Executive MBA, the TRIUM Global Executive MBA, the PhD, as well as a wide variety of programs targeted to leaders and managers.

About the HEC Foundation

The HEC Foundation is a recognized public-interest foundation that contributes to the development of strategic academic projects at HEC Paris and makes the institution’s outstanding programs accessible to the greatest number of people.

Thanks to the support of alumni, corporate partners, and foundations, the HEC Foundation makes a decisive contribution to the development of HEC Paris and helps launching new schemes to reinforce social inclusion and international diversity. In 2022, €12.9M have been allocated to the School's strategic projects. Today, the HEC Foundation counts over 15,000 donors (over 70,000 alumni), 40 corporate partners, a team of 14 staff and 40 volunteers.

Press contacts

Hélène Carlander - +33 7 72 25 96 04 - helene.carlander@worldline.com

Elise Moyou - +33 6 98 15 01 82 - moyou@hec.fr