Payment firm 3V set for European expansion

Irish online payments company 3V Transaction Services is set to launch its pay-as-you-go VISA voucher product in the Benelux region, the company said.

The announcement follows an agreement with Luxembourg Banque Invik which will see the bank acting as 3V's European banking partner.

Banque Invik will work in conjunction with a number of national distribution partners as the 3V product platform is rolled out across European countries.

The first of those partners, Moreless B.V., will be launching an instant access version of 3V’s pay-as-you-go VISA voucher product into the Dutch market in early 2010. It is anticipated that the Dutch market will yield spend values of €75m per annum for 3V.

The 3V voucher is an online payment method, which allow customers to shop online using prepaid vouchers that have a disposable 16-digit VISA number, which the customer uses online just like a standard credit card.

Customers can buy vouchers from participating retail outlets, in the same way they currently purchase credit for their mobile phones.

“The economic environment over the last eighteen months has placed renewed focus on 3V as a payment method of choice, as consumers are more conscious then ever of spending only what they have and not falling into the credit trap," CEO Kieron Guilfoyle said.

"Going forward we will be looking to other distribution and marketing partners to come on board as we continue our European rollout.”

Launched in October 2005, 3V now operates in Ireland and the UK, employing 23 staff at its Dublin headquarters.