How does the new ePayments branch of the company fit into Ingenico’s strategy?
Ingenico’s vision has been to evolve from a pure payment terminal provider to a leading player in payment solutions for merchants across all channels. In the last fifteen years, three quarters of overall retail growth has occurred through online channels, so the Ingenico ePayments division is a critical component of our overall offering. Our ambition in ePayments is the same that we have had in payment terminals: to be a global leader, highly innovative, and best-in-class in terms of technology and customer service. Obviously banks and acquirers are a key channel for us as a Group, but when we think about our offering, we think first and foremost of the merchant experience. The acquisitions of Ogone and GlobalCollect provide us with the foundation to achieve our goals, and the events in the last months in terms of product dynamics already demonstrate the firepower of this combination.
What did Ingenico take away from past acquisitions, and in light of that, what is the biggest challenge in creating synergy between GlobalCollect, Ogone and Ingenico Group?
As you know, Ingenico has demonstrated a unique track record in post-merger integrations. The approach has always been the same: take a few quarters to get to know each other, understand in detail the new business model - which differs from company to company - integrate the finance and support functions to create connections and levers, and then design the proper business set-up to maximize the benefits of the integration. Our approach with GlobalCollect and Ogone has been the same. Over the summer, we entered the implementation phase of an integration approach that was designed during the first year after the acquisition. This approach has created very strong buy-in from employees, and made it easier to make decisions on products, convergence of technology, sales and marketing and customer operations. As such, the deployment of our strategy has gone very smoothly.
How do you position yourselves among the biggest players in payments and commerce?
One of our core assets is and remains our full-service approach to serve cross-border ecommerce merchants. We differentiate ourselves from other players in this field by leveraging our network of acquiring partners in various geographies, which brings extra flexibility and improved conversion (fall back acquirers in case a transaction is rejected by a first acquirer). A second core asset is our unique cross-channel offering, that relies on a combination of deep expertise in EMV and face-to-face environment requirements on a global basis, and a very strong ecommerce offering. We are now building on these foundations to be best-in-class, with innovative technology, and outstanding customer care, to serve one objective: optimize conversion at check-out on a global basis.
What do you see as a source of growth in the company and how does Ingenico Group try to enhance this?
Global ecommerce and mCommerce are the two key growth enhancers. We have been investing massively in the last quarters in our products and technology, to bring the organization to the next generation of our offering. With Ingenico Connect, we are at the forefront of the industry in our approach to mobile commerce and integration. We are creating a love affair with the developer community, and I’m excited about that. We want to be as close as possible to these guys, because they are the ones who inspire us from a technology stand point.
Finally, what innovations can we expect from the amalgamation of one of the world’s largest POS providers and one of the biggest PSP?
A lot! Successfully creating a cross-channel experience is vital for most of the retail industry. It does rely and will rely for a long period of time on the ability to combine card payments with alternative methods of payment without endangering data security, while offering the smoothest experience to merchants and their consumers. All our focus at Ingenico, starting from our Ingenico Labs to our product teams in smart terminals and ePayments, and including our technology groups, serves that ambition. Evolution in authentication, tokenization of card data, enhancements in fraud engines, and seamless customer care platforms are among the new innovations you will hear of in the coming months. Be ready!
About Pierre-Antoine Vacheron
Pierre-Antoine Vacheron was appointed Executive Vice President, Ingenico ePayments in October 2015. He joined Ingenico Group in 2009 as Financial Director before managing the Europe-SEPA zone in 2011, leading Ingenico Group’s expansion towards payment services in the region. From January to September 2015, he served as EVP Strategy, Performance & Finance. Mr. Vacheron holds degrees from the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris and the Ecole Nationale d’Administration.
About Ingenico ePayments
Ingenico ePayments is the online and mobile commerce division of Ingenico Group. We connect merchants and consumers, enabling businesses everywhere to go further beyond today’s boundaries and creating the future of global commerce. As industry leaders since 1994, our innovative spirit drives us forward across all channels. We are the trusted partner of over 65,000 small and large merchants who rely on us to make payments easy and secure for their customers. With advanced data analytics, fraud management solutions and cross-border commerce expertise, we help merchants optimize their business and grow into new markets around the world.
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