Spire Takes On POS Giants In Europe

In its most recent reporting of official shipment figures, the leading point-of-sale industry analysts at the Nilson Report confirmed Spire as third largest player in Europe in 2011. The ranking confirms a rapid ascent since the organisation’s inception in August 2011, with figures based on shipments to the UK and Spain. We spoke with the company’s CEO and President, Kazem Aminaee about what this rapid climb to third place means. Despite admitting that the third place is far from the two giants Ingenico and Verifone the CEO is very confident and has shown impressive numbers in Spain and the UK. “In Spain we have slightly higher market share than Verifone”, he added.

Spire is very much interested in expanding beyond Spain and the UK. “Our first target is going to be Europe, Middle East, Africa,” Kazem said. “Middle East is a high priority and Eastern Europe, Russia, Ukraine are also a high priority” the CEO added. These geographies are the company’s first step; the second phase of expansion will focus on selected countries in Western Europe.

The company is joining with partners and local payment actors to rival the two other European giants. “We will be partnering with local companies…and with these networks of partners we are going to address those Eastern European and Middle East countries,” Kazem explained.

With a long-term international business strategy and new product range, Spire’s leadership team expects to see its numbers grow exponentially in the next three years and fully expect Spire to be the highest growth company in the sector.

To hear more on Spire’s evolution to third place in Europe and the company’s plans for the future, listen to the full podcast below.

   


Kazem Aminaee, President and CEO, Spire Payments

Kazem has held multiple executive positions over the last 20 years in the Electronic Payments and Smart Card industries, including Chief Marketing Officer and Head of Product Development of Ingenico Group and Senior Vice President, Financial Services EMEA, of Gemalto which makes him one of the most well-rounded and experienced executives in the payments space. Prior to Spire, Kazem held the position of President of Hypercom EMEA where he planned and implemented strategies that more than tripled revenues over a four-year period. Fluent in three languages, Kazem holds a Master’s Degree in Engineering from the University of Orsay in France.