safecharge

Businessmodel of SafeCharge

Customer Segments

SafeCharge serves a diverse range of clients across the e-commerce industry, including a number of blue-chip companies. It primarily serves customers operating across the financial services and banking, retail, travel and passenger aviation, and online betting industries.

This includes customers such online retailers and marketplaces, auction sites, gambling and sports betting platforms, and video gaming networks.

The SafeCharge website includes testimonials and case studies from customers such as commodity brokerage platform GKFX, financial technology provider TradeSmarter, gaming group Gala Coral, and independent video game developer Gaijin Entertainment. The Company currently derives approximately 37% of its gross profit from its top five customers.

SafeCharge serves customers across Europe, Asia and North America. The Company’s generates the vast majority of its revenue, more than 95%, from its customers in Europe.

Value Propositions

SafeCharge provides to its clients in the following ways:

  • The quality and reliability of its products and technologies, which are utilised by a number of high-profile companies within the financial services and banking and online betting sectors;
  • Its varied range of fraud prevention services, with the Company providing a range of secure and efficient services that supplement its core payment solutions portfolio;
  • Its scalable solutions, that can be utilised by both small business and large enterprises;
  • Its commitment to innovation and product development, with the Company committing a proportion of its annual revenue to research and development activities with a view to providing its clients with state-of-the-art solutions; and
  • The expertise of its personnel, with the employing experienced fraud prevention and global payment solutions specialists. ### Channels

SafeCharge operates a website at www.safecharge.com, through which customers are able to find information on the Company’s various services and solutions. The Company. However, does not operate an online sales channel.

The majority of SafeCharge’s sales are made through its own internal direct sales force, comprising a number of teams organised by jurisdiction. The Company operates a network of international sales offices, as well as several sales subsidiaries, including XT Commerce International Limited in Cyprus, XT: Commerce GmbH in Austria, CreditGuard Limited in Israel, and SafeCharge Card Services Limited in
Ireland.

SafeCharge does not appear to utilise the services of resellers, distributors and independent sales agents to extend its own sales reach to any significant extent.

Customer Relationships

Despite having an online presence, SafeCharge does not offer services and solutions to its customers on a self-service basis. The nature of the Company’s solutions require that sales are made directly through its in-house sales teams, which allows customers to consult directly with the Company’s expert staff in order to receive a more appropriate service, tailored to their individual requirements. The Company seeks to establish long-term, recurring relationships with its customers.

SafeCharge provides ongoing support to its customers, including technical assistance, risk management services, and financial reconciliation and support services. Customers are able to contact members of SafeCharge’s support staff by email and by online contact form.

SafeCharge also hosts a media centre on its website, through which it keeps its customers up to date with company development, and operates social media accounts with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube through which it can interact directly with its customers.

Key Activities

SafeCharge is a UK-based company engaged in the provision of payments services, technologies and ancillary solutions for online merchants and mobile businesses.

The Company’s core activity relates to the supply of online payment technologies and services, risk management and information technology, including a range of payment and fraud prevention services, payment card industry descoping solutions, and network integration services.

Its secure solutions provide secured connectivity to financial institutions, as well as access to a cashier with personalised checkout options, a risk management platform and a payments management and analytics tools. The Company operates primarily in Europe through a number of subsidiary companies, including ELoad Solutions Limited, XT Commerce International Limited, SafeCharge Technologies Limited, SafeCharge (UK) Limited and others.

Key Partners

SafeCharge collaborates with a range of partner companies in the provision of its various services and solutions. The Company’s partners can be broadly categorised as follows:

  • Banking Partners, comprising banking institutions across the Company’s operating jurisdictions that help to facilitate the Company’s payment solutions;
  • Financial Technology Partners, which provide assistance in the development of payment solutions and fraud prevention technology by sharing tools, resources and expertise; and
  • Payment Partners, comprising companies for which the Company facilitates the online payment and checkout process. SafeCharge’s Payment Partners, include a number of sports betting and gaming companies, such as Paddy Power, Superbet and BetFair.

In recent years, SafeCharge has launched strategic partnerships with 2C2P to provide payment solutions in South East Asia, with Saxo Payments to provide cross-border settlement account services, and with European Merchant Services in the processing of credit card payments.

Key Resources

SafeCharge’s key resources are its technology and proprietary payment solutions, its IT infrastructure, its research and development facilities, its sales and distribution channels, its partnerships, and its personnel. The Company owns some intellectual properties through its recent acquisition of GTS Online Solutions.

Cost Structure

SafeCharge incurs costs in relation to the development of its payment and fraud prevention solutions, the maintenance of its IT infrastructure, the operation of its research and development facilities, the implementation of its sales and distribution channels, the management of its partnerships, and the retention of its personnel.

Employee-related costs account
for the majority of SafeCharge’s operating expenses. These costs increased in 2015 to $18.12 million, due in part to the Company’s recent acquisitions. The Company also operates a network of sales and administration offices across Europe, which accrue costs in the form of rental and utilities fees.

Revenue Streams

SafeCharge’s service revenues are generated through fees charged to merchants for payment processing and risk management services. Revenues are generated through transaction related charges billed as both a percentage fee of the payment volumes processed and a fee per transaction.

In addition to the Company’s volume-dependent sales revenue, SafeCharge also derives service revenues from a variety of services fees, such as fees for monthly minimum transaction fee requirements, set up fees, and fees for other miscellaneous services.

In 2015 SafeCharge generated an annual revenue of $99.8 million, up 30% on the $76.9 million recorded by the Company in 2014. The vast majority of the Company’s revenue is generated through its business in Europe.

Written on October 25, 2017