NEWS Update29 Jan 2010 11:36
http://money.aol.com/rtn/pr/network-international-offers-planet-payment-s-pay-in-your-currency-service-in-uae/rfid293705856?channel=pf
Network International Offers Planet Payment's Pay In Your Currency Service in UAE
PR Newswire
posted: 1 DAY 4 HOURS AGO
LONG BEACH, Calif., NEW YORK and DUBAI, United Arab Emirates , Jan. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Planet Payment, Inc. (LSE: AIM: PPT and PPTR; OTCQX: PLPM), a leading multi-currency payment and data processor and Network International LLC ("NI"), the largest acquirer in the Middle East and North Africa and the preferred card solutions provider in the United Arab Emirates, today announced an agreement to provide Planet Payment's Pay in Your Currency™ service to merchants in the United Arab Emirates.
The Pay in Your Currency service will provide Network International merchants with the ability to present the end consumer with a choice of paying in the local currency, or completing the purchase in their own currency at the point of sale. This service enables the merchant to improve client service, thereby aiding their volume growth while at the same time increasing their operating margins.
"As the largest acquirer of international card transactions in the UAE and with many of our global merchant clients successfully offering similar services in other regions, the introduction of a world class currency conversion product is one of Network International's strategic objectives for 2010," said Abdulla Qassem, Chairman of Network International. "The UAE is a global destination for business and tourist travel and now with Pay in Your Currency, our merchants have an innovative way to better serve their international clientele. We look forward to being the first acquiring bank in the UAE to deploy Pay in Your Currency in partnership with Planet Payment, who we believe, offer Network International and our merchants a best-in-class product."
"We are excited to enter the dynamic Middle Eastern market with a world class partner like Network International. The adoption of the Pay in Your Currency service has increased dramatically over recent years as more merchants around the world view the service as a powerful tool to improve sales, customer satisfaction, and net profits," said Philip Beck, Chairman and CEO of Planet Payment. "Now, through our agreement with Network International, merchants in the UAE can enjoy the same quality solution, with its emphasis on merchant ease-of-use and a positive customer experience."
The United Arab Emirates, a center for business and tourism with a high volume of international visitors, presents a ready market for the solution. According to the World Travel & Tourism Council's report on the economic impact of travel and tourism, visitor exports (essentially, expenditures by international visitors on goods and services within the resident economy), currently at AED 83.5 billion dirhams (2009) in