The new office, together with the appointment of Country Director, Baltics, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, Ingrida Kovalioviene, is reflective of the group's increasing corporate investment in Eastern Europe and its neighbouring countries.

Based in Riga, Kovalioviene, formerly deputy CEO at JSC SNORO Lizingas, one of Lithuania's largest consumer finance companies, will consolidate existing Contis business in the region and drive new growth for the Group, focusing on major accounts in vertical markets such as banking, transportation, retail and postal services.

"Contis Group demonstrated its innovative powers to this region last year, with the ground breaking airBaltic Visa Payment Card," comments Kovalioviene, whose business development remit covers the Baltics, Poland, Scandinavia and CIS countries. "This was a product that showed major companies in the region that integrated payment and loyalty solutions can be used to extend their brand, generate revenues and drive greater value in their customer engagement. As a model, it holds vast potential for this region. The need for innovative payment methods and instruments is evident across multiple industries in this region.

Companies are less dependent on traditional banking infrastructures, so have greater flexibility to implement customised programmes, meaning the opportunities for brands to establish themselves as players in prepaid and debit are greater than elsewhere. To maximise returns, however, solutions must be tailored precisely to the needs of customers. Achieving this requires a dynamic and agile partner capable of delivering bespoke, integrated payment products quickly and efficiently. The Contis Group has collated in-house all of the elements needed to do this. Together with its major brand experience, it has a very compelling and powerful market proposition indeed."

Commenting on Kovalioviene's appointment and the opening of the regional Riga-based office, Peter Cox, E Executive Chairman of Contis Group adds: "Investing in local market knowledge and expertise is critical to the Group's continued global expansion. Adding a regional HQ to our existing local language call centre facility, also in Riga, will enable us to establish a strong business development and account management resource to support our continued growth. Ingrida's extensive executive experience with institutions like JSC SNORO, AB Parex Bankas and Nordea Bank make her the ideal figurehead for the region. We warmly welcome her to the Contis Group."

With head quarters in Skipton, UK, Contis Group has also established a wholly owned software development and payment processing arm based in Ahmedabad, India. The Group maintains total end-to-end ownership of all implementation and programme management processes required to effectively launch and operate a Visa prepaid or debit card initiative: BIN sponsorship, card issuance, payment processing and administration management. The result is a seamless service offering for clients, which delivers cost efficiencies, greater agility in programme development, a much faster time to market and simplicity of management; all services that are delivered in-house through a single customer point of contact.