Growth on the cards as Contis pumps in £2m

The Skipton-based firm, which was founded in 2008, specialises in three products: gift cards, company account cards and prepaid Visa cards.

Managing director Mike Fromant said the money, which came from a number of shareholders, would go towards further integration across the three products.

He added that the investment, spread across the group’s UK and India operations, will ensure Contis is best positioned to take advantage of the forthcoming developments in payment processing, as well as opportunities presented by advances in cloud computing and smartphone technology.

The company is creating a smartphone application where customers can, for example, top up a pay-as-you-go travel money card on their mobile phone.

Shareholders have invested over £7m in the company since its launch.

Mr Fromant said: “Contis Group has a clear strategy of growth through investment and acquisition, and has already committed over £7m in just three years to ensure we are at the forefront of financial services solutions. This latest investment reinforces our commitment to advanced payment platforms and consolidates our position as one of the leading players in the global prepaid sector.”

Contis Group, which was founded by executive chairman Peter Cox, employs 25 people in Skipton and 30 at its technology development centre based in India.

It has a turnover of £396,000 which is forecast reach at least £1.9m by March 2012.

The prepaid sector is expected to continue growing until at least 2017, with the UK anticipated to gain a 25 per cent share of the European market by then.

Mr Fromant said Contis was different to its competitors because it owns all the components of the technology it produces.

“Most of our competitors don’t own their applications. They go to other people who specialise in, for example, processing,” he said. “Most operators don’t ‘own the train set’ and are thus restricted by the limitations of their own supply chain.

He added: “Our philosophy has been we want to own our application, which is a sophisticated prepaid platform.

“Not only do we have the ability to use the card to put money on and take it off, we have got a wide variety of ways of loading funds on to the account and spending money, which include bank automated transactions (BACS) and standing orders. There is big potential in the prepaid card market.”

Over the next 12 months, Contis is planning to grow its share of the gift card market. It currently offers gift cards for companies including Pizza Express and Empire Cinemas, which are sold by high street retailers. “There are lots of retailers out there with gift cards and there are two competitors in that space so we are looking to grow that bit of the business,” said Mr Fromant.

It also sees growth in the prepaid credit card market, including the launch of its own card brand. The company has a licence to supply prepaid Visa cards in 28 countries across Europe. It is also eyeing growth opportunities in South Africa.

In addition, it is looking to grow its account card products, which currently includes a branded charge card for Pilkington Glass customers, called The Pilkington Green Card.

“We see this as a year of growth, continuing to invest what we need to do to make sure we are not just a little bit ahead but way ahead,” said Mr Fromant.

Earlier this year, the company acquired GTP Financial Services, based in Lancaster, which offers account card and gift card solutions to major UK travel and business groups. Contis is also on the look-out for more acquisitions.

Mr Fromant added: “The pay-as-you-go method is becoming increasingly popular. There is a whole host of applications it can be used for.

“There is a new younger generation that doesn’t want to have the temptation of a credit card but still wants to be included in a society that is reliant on plastic cards.”

The prepaid cards are reliant on charging clients transaction fees but Mr Fromant was reluctant to reveal how much it charges for transactions. “It depends on the product and we are also reviewing our pricing at the moment,” he said.

“Our cost base has changed and we want to be as competitive as we can be.”

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