Ingenico UK, the world leader in secure payment transaction solutions, is aiming to more than double its share of Finland's £10 million terminal market after revolutionising the way retailers acquire Chip & PIN equipment.
Working with Finnish retail payment systems specialist Screenway, a subsidiary of Luottokunta, Ingenico has introduced a new rental model for Chip & PIN payment terminals, which could see 40,000 terminals being introduced over the next three years.
Through the new model, retailers pay a fixed monthly fee covering the terminal, all related services, transaction processing and support. The move will make Chip & PIN payment affordable and eliminates the need for retailers to make major investments in equipment - potentially halving the operating costs for retailers.
Finland is potentially an important market for Ingenico with 4.6 million international payment cards on the market and Finns being the most frequent users of non-cash payment methods in Europe.
While ensuring merchants remain at the forefront of terminal technology, the introduction will also assist migration to Contactless technology - payment without the need to physically insert a card - and support payment security through the expansion of Chip & PIN.
Dominic O'Mara, Sales Director, Ingenico Northern Europe, said: "Working with Screenway we have an opportunity to significantly increase our market share in Finland. Essentially we are re-inventing how the market operates but we expect it to be warmly welcomed by retailers as it will free up capital for them to invest in the growth of their business.
"Luottokunta, the parent company of Screenway, already works with around 75,000 retailers in Finland so we have an opportunity for rapid introduction and growth."
Dominic added: "The introduction of Chip & PIN has been very successful in the UK in reducing fraud and wider adoption in countries such as Finland closes off another avenue to criminals and gives greater piece of mind for UK residents traveling abroad."
Driving forward terminal distribution in Finland is Screenway which was acquired by Finland's leading card payments service company Luottokunta in August 2007. In 2006 Luottokunta processed 360 million card payment and authorisation transactions and achieved turnover of 146 million euros.
Sami Toivonen, Sales Director of Screenway, said: "Screenway remains committed to Ingenico and will introduce various new terminal models to the Finnish market in the near future.
"So far we have operated in the POS integrated domain, serving all segments from handheld to unattended payment points, but will shortly expand our offering to stand-alone terminals as well. Ingenico has just the right portfolio to support us achieving our objectives."