Formerly the payments division of a large online merchant, Kalixa is born of the retail industry. By providing integrated and cost effective solutions, the company enables consumers, small businesses and merchants to make and accept payments anywhere, anyway and any time.

More than €100 million has been invested in designing and building Kalixa's integrated platform to date. With products that cover virtually every area of the payments chain - from issuing and acquiring to acceptance - Kalixa owns its own ecosystem, meaning its customers only need Kalixa rather than a myriad of providers in the value chain. One integration, one platform and one company - Kalixa is able to take cost and complexity out of payments.

"Most merchants and consumers don't know that up to ten different companies are involved in making or accepting a single payment, with each one taking a cut and expecting a return. This is adding unnecessary cost, complexity and risk to merchant and consumer payments. In times of austerity, businesses with shrinking margins and consumers with lighter wallets simply cannot go on paying over the odds," said Ed Chandler, CEO of Kalixa Group. "Kalixa is here to disrupt this scenario. We intend to trim the 'fat' by removing the excess links in the value chain to make payments simple, seamless and secure."

Market Challenges
The current macroeconomic environment means that merchants can ill afford to waste money. But the impact of the value chain isn't limited to just cost. The fact that merchants have to work with numerous providers to enable even basic payment services means that the process is burdensome and complex. Control is also compromised as the 'gaps' between technology providers reduces intelligence and increases risk.

In an effort to offset these costs, merchants are passing them on to consumers who are unknowingly footing the bill without seeing the benefits. Making a payment abroad is a clear example of how consumers are stung with excessive and often hidden costs. By removing unnecessary links in the value chain, foreign exchange fees can be reduced by as much as 5%. Similarly, sole traders have spent too much time and money on cumbersome and complicated payments services that do not meet their needs.

"Innovation in payment technology has long promised increased convenience and utility. The reality has not lived up to the hype and customers have been exploited by an expensive and complex value chain for too long. It is time for change.

"Coming from a large online merchant we know better than anyone how to help. By unshackling consumers, small businesses and merchants from the payment value chain we can reduce cost and foster the innovation that will make people's lives easier, and help businesses and economies to grow. Kalixa will turn browsers into buyers, risk into reward and cost into competitive advantage," concluded Chandler.

Kalixa Solutions

The Kalixa products unveiled today are:
• Kalixa Pro - A next generation small business account comprising a Chip and PIN enabled mobile point of sale device linked to the Kalixa e-wallet. By providing a wallet, as well as an mPOS, merchants can pay suppliers, transfer funds and better manage their money without the costs and complications of a traditional small business account. Kalixa Pro makes payments simple and convenient for small businesses and their customers ensuring they never miss out on a sale again
• Kalixa Pay - An e-wallet with a prepaid MasterCard that can be used with multiple devices such as mobile phones and tablets. The card draws funds directly from the e-wallet. This means consumers can pay with their wallet on the high street and online. It offers total security and control, as customers can only spend what they load, as well as unrivalled travel benefits, with worldwide acceptance and no additional fees when used abroad. The Kalixa prepaid card, launched in 2009, already has more than 150,000 users across Europe
• Kalixa Accept - Helps businesses accept online payments including more than 200 of the world's most popular payment methods. One account, one contract and one platform, Kalixa Accept reduces the cost and complexity of payment processing, acquiring and management

All Kalixa's products are integrated and powered by its award winning PCI certified payment platform which has been built organically over twelve years.