News

3V to launch new retail partnerships

Virtual credit card company 3V Transaction Services is about to launch a number of new partnerships with a range of well-known retailers.

The company’s chief executive, Kieron Guilfoyle, said the firm had secured strategic partnerships with online retailer CD Wow, catalogue firm Freemans and high street chain Dorothy Perkins.

3Valready has a number of retailer partnerships in place, including a partnership with eBay and PayPal, which was set up last October.

The deal enabled 3Vcustomers to open PayPal accounts, fund Paypal purchases on eBay and register as an eBay.ie seller.

More than 200,000 people have used the system since it was launched in Ireland in 2005, according to 3V. The firm launched in Britain in 2006 and will launch in Germany in the coming weeks. Guilfoyle said it would launch in the Netherlands and Spain later this year. 3V vouchers provide an alternative online payment method for people without credit cards and those worried about online fraud. Guilfoyle said many people were afraid of 'leaving a financial footprint online.'

He said some 38 per cent of 3V’s customers also have a credit card, but decided to use 3V vouchers for certain online purchases if they 'were not comfortable using their own card.'

Guilfoyle said the firm was also planning on introducing a mobile channel toward s the end of this year. This would allow customers to purchase 3V vouchers via their mobile handset.

The firm was set up in 2004 and, in late 2006, raised €20 million in funding from two international venture capital firms, Benchmark Capital Europe and Atlas Ventures. The firm has no immediate plans to raise more funds, but Guilfoyle added that 'we would never say never.'

Currently, 3V employs 31 staff, with a six-person commercial team based in London and a technical team of 25 staff at its headquarters in Dublin.

Guilfoyle said he anticipated the need for a European office in the future.