Network International, the region's first ISO 27001 certified third party processing company and personalization bureau for payment cards, today announced the acquisition of Egyptian based, National Processing Company (NPC).
 
The acquisition expands Networks technology focused, customer oriented backoffice processing services further into the North African Market.

Speaking on the acquisition, Mr Abdulla Qassem, Chairman, Network International said, 'The acquisition is a reflection of our commitment to regional growth through synergistic alliances. Our proven technologies in EMV compliant solutions will deliver unsurpassed mileage in the nascent Egyptian market which is earmarked for double digit growth. With three strong years behind it, NPC enjoys sound local reputation with a solid client base. This alliance is a carefully planed consolidation of two like minded organizations with an eye to the future.'

In the next five years, more than 10 million new Egypt based customers are believed to be targeted for cards payments services, offering significant opportunity to establishments adept and able to deliver formidable back-end processing solutions. The growth is expected to be fueled by a boom in retail banking, and the public sector's shift to debit payments for salaried employees. Strategically, by end 2007, NPC is expected to have around17 bank clients on their roster, representing 17%-20% of total card based transactions in a country of 75 million people.

Commenting on the acquisition, Dr.Tawfiq El Bardai, Vice Chairman & CEO, of the National Telecommunications Corporation (NTC) said, 'Network Internationals regional dominance, marketing expertise and reputation for security, reliability are some of the fundamentals that we've been seeking to take NPC to the next level. We've also been impressed by the incredible loyalty and competence of Network Internationals' customers and business partners, and we're looking forward to implementing some of Network Internationals' best practices to NPC to make it a sub regional market leader.'

Currently NPC operates in Egypt with 11% of card market share & has significant plans to expand into burgeoning North Africa card market. Network International has a well established regional network spanning the GCC, and importantly the most comprehensive range of in both issuing and acquiring segments of the card industry.

Reported by: Network International
Reported on: 19.03.2007