Seen as one of the first projects of its type in the region, this announcement further reaffirms Spire Payments rapid growth in this Fintech sector.

The solution utilises Spire Payments’ latest mPOS device, the SPm2, while the mobile payment application residing on the connected phone or tablet has been developed utilising Spire Payments’ award winning application programming interface inSPire. The resulting solution links with a PCI DSS certified payment gateway provided by TECS, a well-recognised technology provider in the payments eco-system.

The solution is aimed at all merchant sectors in Austria, from the micro-merchant who wishes to start accepting card payments to retailers who require a feature rich payment platform which can deliver value-added functionality for its customer base. Standard EMV chip and PIN card payments are complimented by a range of additional options including contactless payments (payWave and PayPass), digital wallets, loyalty schemes, and host card emulation (HCE) acceptance.

Spire Payments’ SPm2 is a price sensitive disposable mPOS device which is specifically targeted at the micro-merchant sector but SMEs and larger retailers can also benefit from its functionality when linked to a tablet running powerful retail applications. The SPm2 meets the latest PCI security requirements, while also benefiting from Spire Payments’ comprehensive application programming interface (inSPire), which has allowed the Hobex AG solution to be scoped, developed, accredited and deployed in a small period of time.

Hobex AG is an Austrian based service provider first established in 1991 and has a customer base of over 18,000. Specialising in cashless payment systems the 80-strong company supports over 25,000 point of sale terminals deployed across the region while also supporting eCommerce payments. In addition to Austrian, Hobex has significant deployments in Germany, Italy and Slovenia.

Franz Soriat- Head of Business development of Hobex AG stated, “We as a business have a very clear vision on providing our customers with the very latest payment technologies and this project is a perfect example. In collaboration with Spire Payments and TECS we have been able to bring to market an extremely powerful and flexible mobile payment platform which will fulfil the needs of all merchant sectors. Combining the state-of-the-art devices with the inSPire development environment has delivered a very capable and scalable solution.”

Kazem Aminaee, CEO and President of Spire Payments, adds, “Yet again Spire Payments has demonstrated the significant capabilities of our mPOS offering by working very closely with Hobex AG and TECS. Not only does our mPOS devices accommodate all market sectors but the ease at which secure mobile payment applications can be developed provides our customers with a significant competitive advantage over their competitors. Spire Payments look forward in working closely with Hobex AG in the coming months and years to deploy the solution in additional markets throughout the region.”

A perfect example of a micro-merchant immediately benefitting from this technology is a business offering paragliding services in Salzburg.

Sebastian Grübl - Paragleiten Salzburg, “The ability for our operators to take card payments on the paragliding slopes has immediately increased turn-over. Previously those customers without enough cash to pay for a ride had to be turned away whereas now they can pay by card. In addition, the reduction of cash handling within our business has reduced our operating costs and helped streamline our accounting processes.”