Terminal maker VeriFone Systems Inc. has taken a key step toward bringing its recently acquired Hypercom Corp. hardware operations abroad under one roof by making its product information available to Hypercom distributors in Western Europe, the company said Sept. 12.
Making Hypercom distributors part of the VeriFone International Partner program shows VeriFone intends to work closely with those resellers, Paul Rasori, senior vice president of global marketing for VeriFone, tells PaymentsSource.
The VeriFone International Partner program provides Hypercom distributors with in-depth product information and sales training, as well as Web-based access to strategic, product and technology information, the company said in a press release.
“The transition with Hypercom so far has been very positive and many Hypercom merchants and distributors have welcomed VeriFone into the fold because of the stability aspect and our ability to support existing Hypercom products,” Rasori says.
When VeriFone, based in San Jose, Calif., recently announced its intentions to sell directly to European customers, the company also made it clear that Hypercom distributors would not be left out of the equation, Rasori notes.
CEO Douglas Bergeron addressed the use of Hypercom distributors to sell VeriFone products during a Sept. 6 conference call to discuss VeriFone’s third-quarter financial earnings with analysts, signaling that the company is eager to make its products available to resellers.
“We know there is a thirsty need out there by customers for things like encryption, network management, gateway provisioning, you name it, and we want to make sure that those customers know what is available from VeriFone if they would like it,” Bergeron said during the call.
The initiative to incorporate Hypercom distributors also is a part of VeriFone’s goal to establish new business relationships, particularly in French and German markets, Bergeron said.
“At the end of the day, technology isn’t the main reason for doing a deal like this [acquiring Hypercom],” Rasori says. “In this market, there are high hurdles to leap in securing banking partnerships, and training the sales channels, so building relationships is the more valuable thing.”
VeriFone completed its acquisition of Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Hypercom Corp. last month (
Company executives view the Hypercom purchase, and the future of EMV chip-and-pin credit cards and mobile payment initiatives as keys for the company to continue its trend of revenue growth (
Industry analyst Gil Luria of Los Angeles-based Wedbush Securities believes incorporating the Hypercom distributors will be vital if the company intends to reach the additional $350 million in revenue it is estimating for fiscal 2012 from the Hypercom acquisition.
“It is especially important to be integrating that Hypercom business as part of VeriFone’s global business,” Luria tells PaymentsSource. “I expect that most of those Hypercom customers will migrate over to VeriFone.”
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