Stargroup & West International take on EFTPOS & payment tech market

Stargroup has announced it will partner with West International AB to distribute EFTPOS terminals and software across Australia and New Zealand.

Stargroup will distribute the software under its wholly-owned subsidiary StarApps, a next-generation payment solution and application platform. StarApps will look to develop software for 2000 EFTPOS terminals per year across the ANZ region.

"We are very excited about partnering with West for the next generation of payment solutions in Australia and New Zealand. Their technology, and more importantly being in control of the source code within the terminals, gives Stargroup the edge in a number of merchant sectors," says Todd Zani, chairman and CEO at Stargroup.

The company states that it aims to be the biggest payment technology ISO in Australia, covering ATMs and ISO EFTPOS industry. It will compete against the current dominant player, a company that has 15,000 EFTPOS terminals and also owns its source code.

"Our ATM division is profitable and well established and I look forward to cementing our position in the EFTPOS and card payment industry over the course of the next 12 months. With circa 900,000 EFTPOS terminals installed in Australia and the industry growing at around 60,000 terminals a year, this is a huge opportunity," Zani explains.

The company will look to develop its own API and open source software with both technology partners and customers is a lucrative opportunity.

"Owning the source code will allow us to fast track the finalisation and customisation of our EFTPOS solutions for our technology partners that we have already contracted with and that have over 16,500 member businesses and greater than 45,000 businesses that they assist on a daily basis.

"I firmly believe we can achieve our aim to be the No. 1 ISO in the EFTPOS and payment industry by the end of 2017," Zani continues.

West CEO Sten Karlsson is also looking forward to optimising the company's own expansion efforts.

"I am very proud to start this partnership with Star, Australia's leading supplier of payment infrastructure. It is a perfect pairing of two companies sharing the same vision for the future of payments. The deal will have significant impact on West's continued international expansion and growth," Karlsson concludes.