ITWALES.COM - Profile: securetrading

Posted: Mon, May 16, 2005 securetrading logo

Profile: securetrading

by Sali Earls

securetrading is the UK's leading independent internet payment service provider. The Bangor company was formed in 1997 when their entrepreneurial founder spotted the emerging ecommerce market. The company became one of the first in its field, and today has every intention of remaining the leading UK provider through continual investment in people, R&D and infrastructure.

Sali Earls spoke to securetrading CEO, David Abbot, to find out more about the organisation.

What's the history of your company?
Securetrading is still a fairly young company. We were founded in 1997 in Bangor, where our main base still is, although we now have offices in the south of England too. With a team of just six we became the first independent internet payment service provider.

By 1999 the team had grown to 20 and we had a record growth of 100% per year for new merchants. 1999 was also the year when we were acquired by UC Group, who remains our parent company today. In 2000 we expanded the company into 30,000sqm offices in order to house our purpose built data centres. Today we have over 25 people working in Development, Technical Support, Technical Operations, Customer Service & Support, Sales & Account Management and Finance & Administration.

What unique products/services does your company provide?
Ultimately we enable Internet and eCommerce transactions by processing credit and debit cards through UK acquiring banks.

securetrading provides web merchants with the facility to accept payments on-line, securely and in real-time. Unique architecture of distributed Payment Gateways and in-house customer service team we have here means we can offer a resilient and robust service that keeps our merchants trading 24x7, which is essential if you conduct your business online. We can also boast the highest levels of encryption in the UK and extensive fraud screening services, which reflects our core offering of enabling secure online business.

What's been the key to your success?
Our people - they are committed to what they do. This means that as an organisation we can be committed to investing in R&D, technology, quality and a high level of customer service.

What one piece of outside technology has benefited your company most?
3-D Secure has made shoppers more confident, and Broadband has improved the online shopping experience for consumers.

What one piece of advice would you give to start-up companies in your field?
Security issues make startup very expensive.

Where do you see your company going in the future?
We are going to be integrating with European banks.

Find out more about securetrading at www.securetrading.com.

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