DIVERSIFICATION AND MARKET DEMAND DRIVES CONTINUED GROWTH FOR CONTIS GROUP

Contis Group, one of Europe’s leading e-money institutions, has posted impressive year-end growth figures following a period of corporate expansion and diversification, supported by continued demand from the growing global prepaid market and the addition of new products and services.

The company has built upon its platform and licensing developments in 2012, which gave Contis total end-to-end ownership of all implementation and programme management processes including an E-Money License covering all EU states and Principal Membership of Visa, to successfully position its flagship divisions. Firstly, the company’s e-money current account, Visa debit and rewards programme, credEcard, has continued to contract credit unions, housing associations and other welfare support providers as they move to support their members with ethical financial services.

Recently, Contis launched its new flagship brand, The Gift & Loyalty Company to develop Contis’ successful activities in the closed and open gift card sector into an internationally positioned brand, dedicated to the development of disruptive gifting solutions in the changing world of retail, travel and entertainment. Finally, Contis Financial Services has demonstrated significant contract wins and  growth demand for its white label Visa products, with projects such as its Visa prepaid debit card in partnership with the Latvian National Airline, airBaltic, prepaid current account Ffrees and international haulage company TCS Ltd which have all delivered significant revenues since launch.

These factors have seen Contis grow its annualised monthly recurring revenue at a compound annual growth rate of 202% between June 2012 and March 2014. Expansion in the total number of prepaid accounts operating on Contis’ platform by 385% between June 2013 and March 2014 has contributed to this overall growth, in addition to the number of monthly prepaid transactions rocketing by 339% between January 2013 and March 2014. With year on year revenue having grown 93% for financial year 2014, management is forecasting further growth of 147% for financial year ending March 2015.

Peter Cox, Executive Chairman of Contis Group, comments: “We have an aggressive growth plan for the next five years which includes further expansion in the UK and Eastern Europe, following the launch of our Baltic HQ in Latvia. This activity will focus on Scandinavia, the Baltics and the CIS region where there is a proven demand for our bank-like card-based solution. Through our in-house development team we are continuing to deliver innovative products and services across a range of vertical markets and to further refine our current financial services offering which continues to demonstrate its ability to deliver the services associated with traditional banking to people across Europe.

“This aggressive growth will require additional funding and we are working to secure a significant capital inflow which will place us in an even stronger position to take advantage of the rapidly growing prepaid sector and the ground swell of opportunities being presented to the Group.”

According to Capgemini, the prepaid card market is one of the fastest growing non-cash payment markets in the world with global, open loop prepaid card transaction volume growing at a 20%+ compound annual growth and is expected to reach 16.9 billion in 2014. The Boston Consulting Group expects the global prepaid market to reach $840 billion by 2017, with Europe expected to represent $156 billion.