VeriFone to Offer Managed Payment Services to Mexico Merchants

VeriFone Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: PAY) today announced formation of VeriFone Access to provide merchant hosted services for managing electronic payments, beginning in Mexico. VeriFone Access was formed with VeriFone’s investment and in partnership with Tienda-kit, an innovative Mexican third-party acquirer and merchant services provider, which now operates as VeriFone Access.

VeriFone Access will offer a variety of merchant payment services in Mexico and other emerging economies. The company’s first offering will be a hosted managed service platform based on a proprietary transaction handling technology and on VeriFone’s PAYware software products.

“Managed services are an increasingly important component of VeriFone’s strategy to broaden acceptance of electronic payment and increase the delivery of value added services,” said Douglas G. Bergeron, chairman and CEO of VeriFone. “VeriFone Access will provide cost-effective access to web-based hosted products that provide merchants and acquirers with increased flexibility and enhanced communications.”

VeriFone Access will provide small and medium sized merchants with access to managed services over broadband and wireless connections. With this new offering, those merchants can now take advantage of increasing customer preferences for credit and debit card-based purchases and collections, including monthly installment payments, utilities payments, as well as new and loyalty programs.

The VeriFone Access managed service platform will incorporate payment authorization; estate management; front- and back-end services; value-added payment card management; digital product distribution services and comprehensive card issuance and management products.

Tienda-kit was the first non-bank company in Mexico to process electronic card payments and has developed strong alliances with leading banks. It was incorporated in 2000 with venture capital funding from Fund Ncubo Holdings, LLC, and Nacional Financiera SNC, the largest development bank of Mexico.

“VeriFone is well established in Mexico and other emerging economies as the industry leader and a visionary in the delivery of new payment products and services,” said Alejandro Villalón, formerly director general of Tienda-kit and now director general of VeriFone Access. “Together with this partnership we will be able to extend new hosted offerings in Mexico and beyond.”

VeriFone has been the primary supplier of payment solutions in the FIMPE (Fund of Infrastructure of Electronic Payments) program to terminalize the Mexican economy, delivering more than 150,000 systems since the program began. VeriFone’s deliveries are greater than the total number of systems installed by all vendors throughout Mexico in the previous 10 years.