The country can therefore become one of the star markets of the Printec group, a Greek business with almost EUR80 million revenue a year specializing in providing POS and ATM solutions in South-Eastern Europe via its subsidiaries.
“Romania is the star of the Printec group,” Vangelis Chrysafidis, chief executive of the Printec group told ZF.
Printec has high hopes for the country, as it sees the economy stabilizing and growing. The latest data show improved financials for banking and financial sectors, Chrysafidis added.
“Romania is among the group of countries that have to improve penetration of POS-es, compared with Western Europe and countries like Slovenia, Croatia and Cyprus, where penetration rate is 20% to 30% per 1,000 people,” said Dragos Chivu, general manager of Printec Romania.
The main segments where penetration should increase are field agents and professionals, such as doctors, notaries public, lawyers, and the transportation sector – public transportation and taxi drivers. Adoption rate, however, depends on the commercial strategies of each bank and on the attractiveness of using the card as a payment instrument, on the fees charged upon payment by card, to be precise. That might change, Chivu feels.
“There are projects about transaction fees on the agenda of the EU and of BNR (Romania’s central bank i.e.),” Chivu said.
About 130,000 POS-es are installed in Romania at the moment and the number of cards issued by banks stands at 12 million. About 120 million payments at POS-es and 230 million withdrawals from ATMs are made in one year.
The Romanian subsidiary of Printec generates 15% of the group’s revenue, as the company is the leader on its market in the country, with a more than 50% market share from sales of POS-es and ATMs. Printec’s revenue rose 15% last year and operating income doubled.
“We continue to invest in Romania despite difficulties and political turmoil lately,” Chrysafidis said.
The political situation has recently stabilized and the economy has improved. Romania is a solid and important market to Printec, which will continue to invest and grow organically, he added.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)