Spire Payments Ltd. realizes the best it can do for now is play third fiddle in a European terminal manufacturer market dominated by VeriFone Inc. and Ingenico SA.
The U.K.-based company intends to do that and more based on its Sept. 27 announcement that it will partner with technology investor Newland Computers in developing future products and rolling out a new line of point-of-sale terminals.
Spire Payments came onto the payments scene in August 2011 with executives and employees who were originally part of Hypercom, prior to VeriFone acquiring Hypercom’s European properties. Spire, which currently operates mostly in the UK and Spain, announced expansion throughout Europe and the Middle East as a key goal, seeking to provide merchants another choice in a market that essentially features only two players.
“Customers need a choice and we believe they will accept new players and appreciate seeing and testing new products,” says Spire CEO Kazem Aminaee.
Some companies seeking to crack the terminal market in Europe have not been successful in certain areas because they do not understand those markets, Aminaee says.
Aminaee believes his background as president of Hypercom for Europe, Middle East and Africa and past executive positions with Ingenico and Gemalto will help him continue to steer Spire through the competitive payments terminal field.
“We obviously do not have the same size and footprint of VeriFone or Ingenico, but we are able to compete because, by far, we have the strongest customer support service,” Aminaee says.
If Spire’s customer service support during the recent Summer Olympics in London was any indication, Aminaee may be onto something. During the games, Spire employed runners, rollerbladers and bike riders to honor contracts by
That kind of customer service will play a vital role as Spire faces the tough challenge of competing with the major terminal makers, says Adil Moussa, payments strategic marketing consultant at Omaha, Neb.-based Adil Consulting.
“Competing will be difficult because Spire would possibly have to convince some merchants to break contracts they already have in place,” Moussa says.
Mostly, Spire will have to compete with innovation, pricing and extra customer service, Moussa adds.
“Showing that you provide more value than the current options is a difficult game to play,” Moussa says. “The most successful strategies have been those focusing on something truly unique.”
Apple Inc. and American Express Co. serve as perfect examples of companies that “play their own game” and generally do not do anything to try to simply match or outdo a concept in place from a competitor, he adds.
It remains to be seen what Newland Computers will bring to the table for Spire, but the current product line includes countertop terminals, retail terminals with a PIN-pad included, separate PIN pads, and wireless terminals.
Spire initially will concentrate on new hardware product development, and eventually software development, in the UK and European markets, Aminaee says. “Plans are also underway for southeast Asia and Latin America, but nothing for the U.S. as of yet, because we don’t know that market as well,” he adds.
As Spire develops a connection with customers and eyes geographic expansion, the company will also keep a close eye on industry developments, Aminaee says.
“We understand the future, that there will always be a new payment media coming,” he adds. “Spire wants to be involved in that, but we also know that no new technology will destroy or replace another one.”
Aminaee believes such a scenario gives Spire time to find its niche and make a name for itself.
“Square’s technology will be popular and get its share of the market and companies embracing NFC will take their market share,” he adds. “But all of these developments will be slow.”
