First Data International, a global leader in electronic commerce and payments services, has extended its presence to Poland.
From its offices in Warsaw, First Data will focus on building and developing relationships with local clients and bringing its advanced payment processing solutions to the Polish market.
Following Bucharest and Zagreb, the Warsaw office is the third addition to First Data's Central European presence over the past year. First Data is now operational in nine Central European countries where it offers financial institutions and large retailers a wide-range of high-quality, competitive electronic processing and support services.
Poland is considered a key market for First Data because of its steady economic growth and its well-developed card issuing and acquiring industry. First Data's local operations there will include processing transactions, ATM management services, point-of-sale network management and loyalty programmes. Operations will be implemented beginning in the second half of 2007.
First Data's management team in Poland brings local market knowledge to complement the company's global capabilities and perspective. Joining the company from Citibank, Visa and ecard, Jacek Bochenek, managing director of First Data in Poland, says: "I am delighted that we can bring First Data's electronic payments capabilities, industry know-how and flexibility to financial institutions and merchants in Poland. We are also well-positioned to support First Data's multinational clients as they extend their presence into Poland."
Stefan Klestil, senior vice president and head of First Data's operations in Austria, Italy and 13 Central European countries comments: "First Data has been processing loan transactions for clients in Poland for several years. This is a key market for us and, by expanding our local presence, we can now offer the full scope of our services to international and local bank groups as well as local and regional merchants."