Kiwi mobile payment technology 'Optimizing' global potential

Businesses in Europe and Asia will be the first to benefit from a New Zealand developed mobile payment device.

Optimizer HQ’s Swipe Reader will be introduced to 31 markets in Europe and nine markets in South East Asia, next month.

An agreement to distribute the Kiwi innovation was signed with Hong Kong based payment processing leader, ASAP Transaction Processing (ASAP TP), which will allow businesses to take credit card payments via their mobile phone.

The CEO for Optimizer HQ, Manas Kumar, says ASAP TP chose to enter into a strategic partnership with his company as Swipe Reader had features previously unavailable in the market.

“The many months of work we put into developing this device for the New Zealand market has helped produce a cutting edge product that enables both traditional magnetic strip cards, and new chip versions to be processed with the same hardware,” he says.

With the signing of the contract ASAP TP has established agreements with banks and payment processors throughout Europe and Asia.

Hong Kong based businesses will have access to the Swipe Reader device which plugs into a mobile phone to enable credit card transactions and will be rolled out immediately followed by deployment across 8 other major South-East Asian markets.

“With a number of our customers (cloud products) residing across these markets, it was a logical next step for us to deploy our technology there,” Kumar says.

“Even though the Reader is not available in New Zealand yet, while we are waiting for local regulators to approve it, we felt it was important for Optimizer to continue its global expansion and ASAP TP was a great partner in helping us reach new markets."

Kumar says Hong Kong based ASAP TP has a strong presence throughout the region with connections to multiple financial institutions and local payment schemes in Asia as well as across Europe.

The company operates a fully certified transaction processing switch and is also an acquirer for Diners Club and Discover Cards in Hong Kong and Macau.

The CEO of ASAP TP, Ajmal Samuel, says merchants need a strong solution which ensures ongoing compliance and competitive transaction technologies to better compete in the market.

“ASAP TP’s mission has always been to provide merchant-centric services to our customers," he says. "Swipe has the robust solution that is created for our customers.

"Swipe mPOS gives consumers the hassle free experience at same time increases merchants’ operational performance in a time-saving manner."

Optimizer HQ recently announced plans to list on the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX) and secured a $4 million capital investment to help fund its international expansion.