A decade of growth and innovation: So what’s next for Planet Greece?

Planet, a payments company

Planet is a revenue generating payments service and technology provider. We work with 600,000 Merchants and 100 Financial Partners in more than 70 markets on five continents. For more than 30 years, we’ve been helping Merchants in the Retail, Hospitality, Food & Beverage and Parking sectors meet the needs of their customers by simplifying complex payments. This helps people spend freely in-store, on-site or online.

Planet’s single digital payments platform is unique in the industry – the only one that offers acquiring, processing, digital wallets, VAT refunds and currency conversion payments services. Through a single partnership, we help consolidate multiple supplier relationships, which saves time for businesses and preserves revenue.

Adapting and developing for 2020 and beyond

In August 2020, Planet acquired 3C Payment to create a world-leading payments provider that delivers a unique revenues generating proposition for Global businesses. Planet with 3C integration now brings all payments services – acquiring and processing, acceptance and reporting – together under one roof to delivers operational efficiencies for Merchants

Our payment gateway processes transactions through Planet Merchant Services acquiring for all major payment methods. Consumers will be able to use the payment methods they know and understand, all processed safely and quickly on a single android payment device. This includes major card schemes, and high value contactless with digital wallets.

Merchants benefit from fully secure Point-to-Point Encryption payment solutions which offer a single unified service across all sites. These payment solutions are integrated with all leading Hotel Property Management Systems and Point of Sale providers for Retail and Food & Beverage outlets, and Parking software integrators for Unattended terminals.

Value-added services including Currency Conversion and Digital VAT refunds ensure consumers can benefit from these features all during the payment process, while merchants generate revenue from these transactions. Our centralised payments portal offers real time transaction views, and reporting tools to help simplify reconciliation, saving merchants valuable time and money.

We are now in great position to offer merchants all payments services from one supplier, and a single view of their customer across all touchpoints.

In May 2021, Planet accelerated its growth strategy with a new investment from Advent International, one of the largest and most experienced global private equity investors. Advent has agreed to co-ownership of Planet with Eurazeo, a leading global investment company.

Digital Acceleration

Digital payments were of course nothing new in 2020, but the pandemic accelerated the increase in online and mobile payments. Consumers have therefore become even more confident in the last year using these payments channels and methods. We saw an increase in the use of Pay by Link – a way to pay safely through a secure web link with 3D Secure 2.x security, which can be sent out easily by email or SMS.

And thanks to our partnership with Cybersource we now deliver a simplified digital payment experience for merchants. This partnership boosts our existing online offering by giving merchants the ability to track the integrated shopper experience across all channels, optimising both digital and physical payments

Spotlight on Planet Greece

Planet Greece is proud to have gained 45% market share for Currency Conversion and VAT Refund Services. VAT Refund services were launched in the region in 2010 with sales growing steadily over a 10 year period in all key Greek regions such as Athens, Thessaloniki, Rhodes, Crete, Santorini and Mykonos. This growth comes by partnering with brands such as Chanel, Gucci, Folli Follie, Pandora, Ikea and more besides.

The Planet team in Greece offer core training to customers on how to use the VAT Refund service to ensure the whole process is seamless for both staff and tourists. Furthermore, the team offers group events or direct on site specialist training skills for staff on how to work with shoppers from different cultures outside of Europe, for example Chinese and the Middle East. These shoppers are very important for the region as they are often big spenders, so understanding cultural etiquette could be the difference on whether a sale is made or not. The Planet team equip staff with the right skills to offer a professional, friendly, and respectful service.

With Digital VAT Refund services, international shoppers benefit from fast and seamless tax refunds, while enjoying quick and simple shopping experience. In Greece, the team can now boast 17 Refund locations all over Greece including airports, for added convenience.

Currency Conversion services were launched in 2016 and has seen very encouraging growth. Shopper’s can pay in their currency of choice with Currency Conversion, while Hospitality and Retail businesses can generate revenue from these transactions. The Planet team also work closely with these clients, offering bespoke training and consultancy services on how to improve opt in rates so clients increase revenue.

With 18,000 active merchants now using our currency conversion services in Greece, this market is continuing to grow. Athens sits tops the list for highest number of Currency Conversion transactions, followed by Thessaloniki, Mykonos, Santorini, Crete and Rhodes respectively.

The future of Planet Greece

As Europe starts to reopen and bounce back in the pandemic recovery, the future is optimistic for Planet Greece with new refund solutions arriving for UnionPay, and Chinese wallets We Chat Pay and Alipay. This will help merchants grow footfall and revenue by attracting more Chinese tourists by offering them the payment options they familiar with. New solutions including Digital Tax-free are set to roll out in the region in the coming months. As well as Pay by Link supporting Multi-currency pricing.

For British tourists, Brexit offers the incentive to shop Tax Free in the EU from January 1st 2021. This presents a revenue generating opportunity for Merchants in Greece who can capitalize on the incentive, as the country is a top European destination for Brits. It’s a great time for businesses to be thinking about targeting the UK’s Tax Free shoppers, with the majority of British tourists being tech-savvy and familiar with payment technology. UK visitors also don’t rely on trans-continental flights to visit Europe and many will choose to drive abroad, increasing the space to bring their Tax Free goods home from the EU.

“Our vision is to be a world class payments partner with committed service and continued innovation,” said Stavros Gesouras, Country Manager, Planet. “We are proud of our growth in Greece, and the capabilities we offer for merchants to provider a personalised service that improves brand loyalty. And with new services launching soon, we are confident we can continue to grow and deliver an exceptional share of international shopper spend to our customers through great service, technology and people.”