The Pay in Your Currency service will provide Network International merchants with the ability to present the end consumer with a choice of paying in the local currency, or completing the purchase in their own currency at the point of sale. This service enables the merchant to improve client service, thereby aiding their volume growth while at the same time increasing their operating margins.
"As the largest acquirer of international card transactions in the UAE and with many of our global merchant clients successfully offering similar services in other regions, the introduction of a world class currency conversion product is one of Network International's strategic objectives for 2010," said Abdulla Qassem, Chairman of Network International. "The UAE is a global destination for business and tourist travel and now with Pay in Your Currency, our merchants have an innovative way to better serve their international clientele. We look forward to being the first acquiring bank in the UAE to deploy Pay in Your Currency in partnership with Planet Payment, who we believe, offer Network International and our merchants a best-in-class product."
"We are excited to enter the dynamic Middle Eastern market with a world class partner like Network International. The adoption of the Pay in Your Currency service has increased dramatically over recent years as more merchants around the world view the service as a powerful tool to improve sales, customer satisfaction, and net profits," said Philip Beck, Chairman and CEO of Planet Payment. "Now, through our agreement with Network International, merchants in the UAE can enjoy the same quality solution, with its emphasis on merchant ease-of-use and a positive customer experience."
The United Arab Emirates, a center for business and tourism with a high volume of international visitors, presents a ready market for the solution. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council's report on the economic impact of travel and tourism, visitor exports (essentially, expenditures by international visitors on goods and services within the resident economy), currently at AED 83.5 billion dirhams (2009) in the UAE, will almost double to AED 162 billion by 2019. In addition, statistics released by Dubai Airport show that passenger traffic grew 9.2% in 2009 to 40.9 million and in December the number of passengers using the airport grew 14.5%, with the number expected to grow over 13% in 2010. Pay in Your Currency provides merchants with an innovative way to cater to this growing market of international visitors. The parties anticipate launching the service in Q2 2010.
About Network International:
Established in 1994, Network International LLC is the largest acquirer in the Middle East and North Africa and one of the leading payment solutions providers in the Gulf and Middle East Region geared to meet the needs of Banks, Financial institutions, and large and individual retailers. It is a Principal Member of Visa International and MasterCard International offering customers the most comprehensive range of payment products and services in the Gulf and MENA region for both the Issuing and Acquiring segment of the card payment industry. Offerings include credit and debit card processing services, ATM management and monitoring, merchant acquiring plus consumer finance applications. Network International provides consultancy services ranging from planning and designing, to developing of new card and consumer finance products and services.
Network International is the first independent vendor certified by both Visa & MasterCard for card payments in the Middle East. It is UAE's largest payment acquirer for Credit & Debit Cards and the largest third-party processing vendor which is capable of providing banks, the retail industry and financial institutions with complete EMV certified solutions as they migrate to EMV Smart Card technology.
About Planet Payment®:
Planet Payment's Common Shares trade in the UK on AIM under the symbols PPT for unrestricted Common Shares and PPTR for Reg S Common Shares and in the USA on the OTCQX under the symbol PLPM.
Planet Payment enables processors, acquiring banks and their merchants to accept process and reconcile credit card transactions in multiple currencies, allowing cardholders to view prices and settle transactions in their native currency. The Pay in Your Currency™ service is Planet Payment's suite of multi-currency processing solutions, which includes a multi-currency pricing e-commerce service and a Dynamic Currency Conversion service. Planet Payment's BuyVoice™, a mobile payment and commerce solution, allows merchants to accept payments and sell product to customers using any mobile or landline phone. With the iPAY™ gateway, Planet Payment also offers comprehensive Internet processing solutions for credit card and electronic check payments.
Planet Payment is headquartered in New York and has offices in Atlanta, Beijing, Bermuda, New Castle Delaware, London, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore.
SOURCE Planet Payment, Inc.
RELATED LINKS
http://www.planetpayment.com
