Luxembourg deal for online payments firm
Online payments firm 3V Transaction Services has signed a new deal with Luxembourg based Banque Invik, which will enable it to launch its products in the Benelux region.
Banque Invik will act as 3V’s banking partner in the region, and has also undertaken to work with a number of distribution partners as 3V is expands into other European countries.
The Dublin based company, which develops pre-paid, disposable credit cards, has also signed a deal with Moreless BV, that will see the Dutch firm act as the first of its distribution and marketing partners in Europe.
It will work with Banque Invik to launch an 3V’s pay-as you go Visa voucher product into the Netherlands early next year.
3V is forecasting that total spend on its vouchers will reach €75 million per annum in the Dutch market alone.
3V’s Visa Voucher operates just like a standard credit card and comes with its own 16-digit credit card number, expiry date and three digit security code.
The cards are marketed at consumers concerned about compromising their credit card details online or at young people who don’t have their own card.
For the launch into Europe, the company has altered the product slightly, eliminating an initial registration step, thus allowing consumers to use the cards immediately after purchasing from an authorised retail outlet.
3V chief executive Kieron Guilfoyle said that expansion into Europe was the next milestone for the company, which already has half a million customers in Ireland and Britain.
According to Guilfoyle, the company has fared well during the recession.
‘‘Consumers are more conscious then ever of spending only what they have, and not falling into the credit trap,” he said.
3V,which employs 23 people in Dublin, was established in 2005 and has raised almost €20 million in funding from venture capital firms Benchmark Capital and Atlas Venture.
The company expanded into Britain in 2005,where it has developed a gift card business for online brands such as eBay, PayPal and Bebo,which it now plans to introduce into all of the other markets it is operating in.
