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Giro Bankkartya Zrt, also known as GBC, is acquiring Hypercom Corp.'s Optimum T4200 point-of-sale terminals as part of the Hungarian provider of processing and ATM services' expansion in Central and Eastern Europe, the U.S.-based terminal maker said Tuesday. A Hypercom spokesperson, citing a nondisclosure agreement, declined to say how many terminals are included in the deal. GBC has seen significant increases in card-transaction activity among its clients. In December, for instance, purchase transactions increased 14.8%, to 5.67 million from 4.94 million in December 2007, according to figures previously supplied to CardLine Global by GBC (CardLine Global, 10 Feb.). Counting ATM activity, the company processed 8.48 million transactions in December, up 12.5% from 7.54 million in December 2007. The processor, a subsidiary of Italy-based SIA-SSB Group, manages a network of some 17,000 payment terminals and 1,500 ATMs. The company is expanding its offerings in such countries as Romania, Croatia, Slovenia, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. In general, Hypercom, which considers the deal an "important win" in gaining market share in the region, is seeing increasing demand in Central and Eastern Europe for terminals that use wireless GPRS networks, the spokesperson says.
