“Driven by technology and our people!”, Giorgos Drimiotis, CEO of Cardlink
December 2018
Cardlink was founded in 2004 by Alpha Bank and Eurobank. Cardlink’s goal was to create a common POS network that would assist in the development of electronic transactions in Greece. The network unification project started in 2011 and was completed by 2014 by installing more than 80.000 Cardlink POS.
During the implementation of this project, Cardlink demonstrated that it could do much more for the payments acceptance environment in Greece. Thus, in January 2015, Alpha Bank and Eurobank decided to sell Cardlink to Quest group and Edgepay Holdings. Since Greece was far behind other European countries in adopting electronic transactions, the idea was the creation of a truly independent entity that could help banks and companies move faster towards convergence with other markets. The transfer of ownership of Cardlink in early 2015 marks the beginning of this period. From this point on, the pace has accelerated.
The enforcement of Capital Controls in Greece in the summer of 2015, which reduced consumer access to cash combined with the legislative measures to provide incentives for using electronic transactions and the mandatory installation of POS terminals in all business types and commercial shops in 2017, led to an explosive growth of demand for Cardlink’s services.
During the period of 2016-2018, we made significant investments in both POS equipment and technology infrastructure to meet the demand and needs of the market. As 2018 is coming to an end, we operate the largest card acceptance network in Greece, and we are ready to support the market and businesses with new products and services.
The payments industry is rapidly changing mostly due to developments pushed by technology. Smartphones are becoming a powerful transactional tool that blurs the lines between physical, virtual and mobile marketplaces. Searching, choosing, purchasing and paying for products and services are not separate processes anymore. They are part of a unified client experience and create significant challenges and opportunities for all interested parties. Companies should adapt to this changing environment and customers. In order to attract and maintain their customers, they should adjust and offer better products, services, and experiences to them on multiple channels (physical, virtual and mobile).
For the next phase, our main goal is to focus on merchants and use technology and high level of service to offer real solutions to the challenges they face. Our goal is to earn the trust of merchants and become their first choice in products and services to attract and maintain their customers.
Technology alone is not enough to make a difference. For this journey, we will rely on our people and culture. We are making significant efforts to create and maintain a working environment that encourages innovation, initiative and teamwork so that we can make a difference and realize our vision to earn the trust, dedication and admiration of our employees and customers.
