Connect with us

Global Banking and Finance Review is an online platform offering news, analysis, and opinion on the latest trends, developments, and innovations in the banking and finance industry worldwide. The platform covers a diverse range of topics, including banking, insurance, investment, wealth management, fintech, and regulatory issues. The website publishes news, press releases, opinion and advertorials on various financial organizations, products and services which are commissioned from various Companies, Organizations, PR agencies, Bloggers etc. These commissioned articles are commercial in nature. This is not to be considered as financial advice and should be considered only for information purposes. It does not reflect the views or opinion of our website and is not to be considered an endorsement or a recommendation. We cannot guarantee the accuracy or applicability of any information provided with respect to your individual or personal circumstances. Please seek Professional advice from a qualified professional before making any financial decisions. We link to various third-party websites, affiliate sales networks, and to our advertising partners websites. When you view or click on certain links available on our articles, our partners may compensate us for displaying the content to you or make a purchase or fill a form. This will not incur any additional charges to you. To make things simpler for you to identity or distinguish advertised or sponsored articles or links, you may consider all articles or links hosted on our site as a commercial article placement. We will not be responsible for any loss you may suffer as a result of any omission or inaccuracy on the website. .

Top Stories

FRAUD PREVENTION FIRM SEMAFONE DIALS UP GROWTH AMBITIONS WITH FURTHER INVESTMENT

FRAUD PREVENTION FIRM SEMAFONE DIALS UP GROWTH AMBITIONS WITH FURTHER INVESTMENT

Business Growth Fund invests alongside Octopus

Semafone, a UK company specialising in fraud prevention software used by call centres taking payments over the phone, is looking to increase the size of its operations following a £4m growth capital investment from BGF (Business Growth Fund), and a further £1m from Octopus Investments and other existing shareholders.

BGF, an independent company established to help the UK’s growing businesses, is investing in Semafone to support delivery of recent large contract wins and expansion in overseas markets.

Semafone logo withstrap reg - Global Banking | FinanceSemafone’s DTMF masking payment method is patented in the US and UK and allows call centre operators and other businesses taking payments by phone to reduce Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) compliance costs by up to 80 percent. The technology anonymises sensitive credit and debit card details as they are keyed in by the customer during a telephone transaction and sends them directly to the bank, by-passing the call centre itself. Semafone also allows the call centre agent to maintain a dialogue with the customer during the transaction process, which reduces abandonment rates and provides a better customer experience than a fully automated service.

Based in Guildford, Semafone employs a team of 38 and was founded by David Jackson and Charles Cooper-Driver in 2009; the board of directors is chaired by David Sear who is also group chief commercial officer at global payment specialist Skrill. The business, which has turnover of circa £5m, is on a high growth trajectory. In May 2014, Semafone became the first vendor to achieve three of the highest levels of accreditation in the payment security industry, PA-DSS, PCI Level 1 certification and being a registered Visa merchant agent.

Semafone’ s software is used by a host of blue-chip customers including Sky, Virgin Holidays, Talk Talk, Aviva Canada and Capita. In October 2013, Semafone signed a partnership contract with BT which will see it become a core part of BT’s call centre technology offering for its corporate customers.

The market for Semafone’s product has grown strongly in recent years, driven by high profile data breaches around the world that have dented consumer confidence and the reputation of major companies. The most recent large-scale attack was in September 2014 on US retailer Home Depot, resulting in the theft of 56 million customer records with an estimated “street” value of $3 billion.

BGF has taken a minority stake and BGF Investment Director Alistair Brew has been appointed to the board with Investment Manager Will Gresty joining as Observer to the board.

Semafone is banked by Lloyds Banking Group.

Tim Critchley, CEO of Semafone, commented:
“We are very pleased to have BGF’s support during a pivotal period of growth. Our global collaboration with BT on the BT Secure Contact solution and our expanding customer base, which now reaches four continents, are placing unprecedented demands on the company’s resources. BGF’s investment will help us to deliver these projects successfully as we continue to fulfil our ambitious plans for expansion into the US and further afield.”

BGF Investment Director Alistair Brew said:
“Semafone is an incredibly exciting company with a market-leading product offering endorsed by major blue chip customers. It is on an impressive growth trajectory, driven by its innovative software and consistently high quality project delivery under Tim Critchley’s strong leadership.

“There is a clear vision for how Semafone will build on its successes to date both in the UK and overseas, and we are delighted to be co-investing alongside existing investors Octopus Investments, who have been long-term backers of the company, to help realise this plan.”

Simon Andrews, Octopus Non-Executive Director, Semafone, said:
“This new investment should allow Tim Critchley and the team at Semafone to accelerate development to take advantage of the substantial opportunities that exist for the Semafone payment platform globally and build on its growing presence in the North American market. Octopus was the first institutional investor into Semafone and we are pleased to continue supporting the business in this investment round.”

Global Banking & Finance Review

 

Why waste money on news and opinions when you can access them for free?

Take advantage of our newsletter subscription and stay informed on the go!


By submitting this form, you are consenting to receive marketing emails from: Global Banking & Finance Review │ Banking │ Finance │ Technology. You can revoke your consent to receive emails at any time by using the SafeUnsubscribe® link, found at the bottom of every email. Emails are serviced by Constant Contact

Recent Post