Printec Group and Transoft International are teaming up to provide financial institutions in Southeastern Europe with Cash Management Solutions

July 2010- Printec Group announces its partnership with Transoft International, the global leader in currency supply chain management software solutions, to enhance its offering in the Transaction Automation field.  As a result, Printec will offer financial institutions in South Eastern Europe a suite of specialized solutions which automate the process of managing cash requirements across the banking network.

Partnering with Transoft, a pioneer in the currency management industry currently managing well over 100,000 ATMs and Branches, Printec is offering the OptiSuite, a premier currency management solution which allows banks to achieve just-in-time cash on-hand in all cash points across their organization. Having the right balance of cash in branches and throughout the ATM network, banks are able to meet customer demands while avoiding holding excess of cash that could be invested elsewhere. Through a sophisticated, three–tiered approach involving forecasting, optimization, and automation, OptiSuite considers all of the factors related to cash management and makes intelligent suggestions which in effect will lower the costs of managing cash requirements for the bank. 

In use worldwide by Banks and ATM networks, Transoft solutions provide significant recurring cost savings which are the direct result of applying sophisticated statistical analysis, as well as daily balancing of all cost components, to determine the optimum cash-holding position, by ATM, branch, vault and cash depot. Through this agreement with Transoft, Printec customers will be able to automate their cash forecasting, ordering, tracking and monitoring in order to optimize currency requirements and handling costs, drastically reducing expenses and improving operational efficiency. 

«We are delighted to partner with Printec. We believe that Transoft’s premier products will add to Printec’s already impressive product and solution set by providing best-in-class currency management solutions to its clients," stated Bo H. Holmgreen, President of Transoft.

“Recognizing the significance of cash management in our customers’ efforts for operational efficiencies in today’s difficult global economic environment, we are very happy to team up with Transoft International.” said Vassilis Mathioudakis, Product Development and Marketing Director, Printec Group. “Our enhanced offering will enable our customers to remain competitive by reducing risk and costs, maximizing savings while remaining compliant with central bank policies.”

About Transoft International, Inc.

Transoft International, Inc. is a leading provider of currency supply chain management software solutions for the banking industry. Transoft products include OptiCash, OptiNet, OptimizeCF, OptiVLM and OptiVault. These sophisticated applications have been developed by experienced cash management professionals to efficiently and cost-effectively handle all aspects of the complex cash management process. In use worldwide by banks, ATM networks, armored car service providers and retailers, Transoft solutions are generating significant recurring cost savings for all forms of currency supply chain networks. For more information, please visit www.Transoftinc.com .

Cloud Computing Services from Printec Group

The Company will offer Software as a Service solutions in cooperation with Interworks' Microsoft S+S Incubation Center

Printec Group, true to its commitment to provide customers with innovative and reliable IT solutions, and following closely the latest IT developments, is introducing a wide variety of new services through the partnership agreement with Interworks, Microsoft certified Incubation Center and leading provider of web services and software.

According to the agreement, Printec will be able to offer On Demand business application solutions which are hosted in Interworks’ Microsoft S+S Incubation Center, as well as Cloud Computing solutions.  More precisely, Printec Group as Interworks’ Premium Partner will be providing customers with:

• Hosted Microsoft Communication Services (Office Communication Server, Exchange, SharePoint Services etc.)
• Cloud Applications (Software as a Service - SaaS) more specifically On Demand business applications like CRM, ERP, Mobile Ordering, Unified Messaging, CMS etc.,

This offering will provide Printec customers immediate access to technology know-how. The applications are provided over the Internet with a monthly fee (as a service) depending on the customer’s needs.

Among the main benefits of the SaaS applications, is the immediate availability of the offered services, the zero cost of the initial investment and the software maintenance and infrastructure costs, the flexibility of the “Pay as you Go/ Pay as you Grow” model, as well as the ability for access from everywhere and from all types of equipment. The specific agreement will also allow Printec to benefit from the use of additional services such as:

• Platform as a Service: The use of WebServe platform for the immediate activation of software licenses, without losing valuable time, so that customers will obtain immediately the S/W that they have leased.  The service also includes the use of APIs which support the interoperability and interaction of a system (i.e. web service) with specific server functions.  
• Infrastructure as a Service: The whole infrastructure required for the provision of a Cloud Server with the failover, escalating and cluster ability as well as Dedicated Resources. Additionally, Cloud Storage and Cloud Sites can be offered.

Printec will now be able to offer the unique and safe Cloud Computing infrastructure through Interwork’s self-owned Dynamic Data Center, which is one of the 30 Microsoft certified Incubation Centers worldwide, also approved by the Greek Authority for Communication Security and Privacy for the protection of data and the secrecy of communications.  

“The partnership with Printec Group, is for us a strategic step towards the proliferation of the SaaS applications. Printec’s extended experience and reliability will aid us in our efforts to promote the SaaS model in the market, so that Enterprise-Class applications and services will be offered to companies in a cost-effective way. In view of the recent financial problems that companies are currently facing, it will be immediately evident that this new era in business management is the only way which leads to SaaS or On Demand, minimizing the cost of software without affecting the quality of the management and the services which accompany it” said Vassilios Zografos, Managing Director, Interworks.

“The adoption of new technologies, which will assist our clients in their efforts to achieve business objectives and improve efficiencies, is our primary goal. We are very delighted with this prospect of offering “On Demand” services immediately. This way we provide our customers with the solutions that will facilitate them in the management of the critical implementation and maintenance costs of the required IT infrastructure. Especially today, when controlling costs and maximizing profitability are among the challenging objectives for all businesses, this model of offering, enables companies to face today’s challenging financial environment.”, said Yannis Karagiannis, General Manger, Printec S.A. “This partnership with Interworks reinforces our product portfolio with innovative, secure and reliable solutions, which will enable Printec to offer customers value added software solutions in order to migrate from the traditional model of IT infrastructure to the SaaS model. 

About Interworks

Founded in 2001, Interworks headquarters are based in Thessaloniki Greece, a nodal geostrategic point of South-Eastern Europe.  Since its establishment Interworks has invested in the development of a highly innovative software platform to support the implementation of on-demand business management solutions.  Interworks from day one understood that successfully delivering applications and services over the Web requires much more than simply selecting a hosting provider.  It requires a partner who lives and thrives in  On Demand world.  Its state-of-the-art technological infrastructure and its team’s long experience in developing and selling business solutions, contribute in the development of highly innovative products and cloud hosting services, managed & outsourced services.   Our vision is to help Organizations plan, market, provide and operate Saas Applications and help people work easily from any place at any time.

Printec Group's ATM Security Camera Solution helps Financial Organizations Face Fraud and Comply with Regulatory Challenges

Printec Group, announces the design & development of a solution which enables Financial Organizations worldwide to capture and manage image and video data from multi-vendor ATM networks. The ATM Security Camera Solution has already been implemented in Financial Organizations in South-eastern Europe.

In an environment of increased ATM fraud and threats where regulatory constraints are forcing Financial Organizations to comply with physical ATM security and transaction monitoring requirements, Printec’s solution helps Financial Organizations face ATM security issues and comply with laws and regulatory requirements.  By deploying the solution, Financial Organizations may capture snapshots associated with the critical steps within the flow of each ATM transaction. These media (images and video) are stored locally on the ATM for a configurable amount of time; furthermore, they can also be transferred to a central server either manually or automatically, at configurable time periods. Moreover, images are time-stamped and may also render additional transaction-related details, providing a valuable aid to track back ambiguous or suspect events during transactions. Finally, the solution can be implemented across multi-vendor ATM network environments, thus providing value-added advantages, in terms of central management and ease of maintenance.

Printec Group has designed and developed the ATM Security Camera Solution driven by customer requirements and market needs in the area of ATM fraud. Among its multiple benefits, is the enhanced transaction security without interrupting ATM transactions, regulatory compliance, enhanced security, reduced transaction fraud risk, remote access of media/ video and still image recording.

The Financial Organizations in the region, which have implemented the solution, have rated it as particularly effective. During the post implementation review of the system, it has been established that the solution can help banks effectively handle transaction disputes submitted to them from their customers, while in parallel the banks are able to successfully meet all requirements coming from Magisterial & Police authorities, in order to fight illegal activities. Furthermore, customer satisfaction reports show that customers are particularly satisfied from the professional and organized Project Management, which has led to very short implementation times. It has also been recorded that besides the bank’s compliance with laws and regulatory requirements, the Bank’s ATM Departments now have obtained an important additional tool which enables them to handle all requests and complaints/disputes, submitted by end customers using their ATM networks.

Printec Group has been selected for the Fire Detection Project in Akamas Forest in Cyprus

Athens, Greece, April 12th , 2010- Printec Group announces that  it has been selected by Cyprus’ Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment, Department of Forests in order to implement a reliable solution for the automatic fire detection solution for Akamas forest. The project has already been installed and is operating successfully. Printec has provided IQ Wireless’ Fire Watch solution, a terrestrial digital remote surveillance system, capable of observing large wooded regions and analyzing, evaluating and storing collective data, resulting in an early detection of smoke to prevent forest fires. The solution’s sensitivity, accuracy and reliability enable the early detection and recognition of forest fires. Besides the implementation of the project Printec Group is also responsible for the technical support of the solution for the next five years.

By installing this solution the Department of Forests will be able to apply an early warning solution that detects any fire within 6 minutes at maximum from the appearance of smoke clouds, therefore minimizing the time from the outbreak of fire to its detection and alert. The solution’s main benefits can be summed to detection accuracy, fast supervision, as well as 24/7 surveillance by day or night.

Mr Charalampos Alexandrou, Senior Conservator of Forests, Department of Forests said, «For our department, it is more important to be proactive than reactive. For this reason we have selected Printec Group and its state-of-the-art technology which will help us in our difficult and critical task. The implementation of the project is expected to enhance the existing detection system and consequently the quick intervention and timely elimination of fires in a more effective and cost effective way, thus assisting in the preservation of our natural heritage».

Printec Group is the Silver Partner of IDC CEMA's IT Security Roadshow 2010

Athens, Greece, March 3rd, 2010- Printec Group announces its silver sponsorship in IDC CEMA’s IT Security Roadshow to be held in Bucharest, Athens, Sofia & Zagreb from March 9th to May 13th, 2010. The 8th annual Roadshow’s theme is “Battling Sophisticated Threats: Security Strategies for the Resilient Enterprise” and will be held across 25 major cities in Central Europe, Middle East and Africa. This year’s Roadshow will take a holistic approach to IT security, presenting IT security as a business enabler rather than a necessary cost.

More specifically, Printec Group has decided to be the Silver Partner in multiple cities: Bucharest on March 9th, Athens on March 23rd, Sofia on March 24th and Zagreb on May 13th. As the Silver Partner of the event, Printec Group invites conference participants to visit the company’s stand at the specific conferences, meet the company’s experts onsite, and listen to company executives elaborating on the portfolio of Information Security Services, compiled to address some of the key challenges faced by modern organizations. Conference participants will also have the opportunity to listen to the company’s presentation on the “Data Leakage Prevention (DLP) – Before and After Firing up a DLP Solution” by Grigorios Dimitropoulos, MSc Infosec, CISSP, Group Solutions Manager, Information Security Services.

This prestigious event is especially targeted towards decision makers, top managers and IT specialists from Banking and Financial Services Institutions, Transportation, Energy and Utilities Organizations, Travel & Transportation Services providers, Telecommunications and Media, Government bodies and Public Administration. The Roadshow will bring together international security experts to discuss topics such as the impact of global economy shift on IT security spending, Governance, Risk and Compliance as well as the next trends, critical needs and challenges in IT Security. It will give advice on smart security investments and strategies for security defense, presenting a variety of real life case-studies in addition to best practice presentations by senior professionals.

Printec Group implements NCR SelfServ™ Checkout   for SPAR in Slovenia

NCR self-checkouts to save shoppers at SPAR Slovenia stores time and money

LONDON, January 25th, 2010 – SPAR, the world’s largest food retail chain with nearly 126,800 stores in 32 countries, has signed an order with NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) to install NCR self-checkouts in 12 SPAR INTERSPAR hypermarkets in Slovenia. The world’s leading self-checkout solution NCR SelfServ™ Checkout enables consumers to scan, bag and pay for goods themselves. Printec, NCR’s largest solutions partner globally, was involved in the overall project implementation, providing local project management, hardware and software installation, training and roll-out support services.

The deployment of the 52 self-checkouts was signed with the support of Printec, NCR Solutions Partner in Eastern Europe. If successful, NCR SelfServ Checkouts could be deployed to other SPAR stores in Slovenia in 2010.

Aspiag (Austria SPAR International AG), SPAR Slovenia’s parent company, grew by 10 per cent to generate €10.66 billion in retail sales in 2008. The self-checkout initiative is designed to continue this growth trajectory by increasing customer service levels and enabling it to operate more cost-effectively.

Aspiag comments, “Just being a convenience provider offering a great product range at great prices is not enough for SPAR. We want to make it as easy as possible to shop at our outlets every single day and believe self-checkout will help us meet that goal. It will enable us to make more paypoints available in-store for customers and free up staff to improve the availability of products in our stores and help shoppers locate items.”

The solution's enhanced design also provides operational efficiencies for retailers and customers. NCR SelfServ Checkout features NCR’s patented two-sided thermal receipt printer, which enables simultaneous printing on both sides of a receipt, reducing paper consumption by up to 45 per cent and speeding up print times. In addition, the NCR RealPOS High Performance Scanner/Scale™ offers superior scanning performance to help make self-checkout scanning even quicker for consumers.

Cash inputs/outputs are arranged side by side to allow for enhanced ease of use for consumers, while “follow-me” lights on the units to guide consumers through each step of the checkout process. NCR SelfServ Checkout now supports standard integrated coin recycling, as well as the option for integrated bill recycling, reducing the frequency with which they need to be replenished.

Greg Mann, NCR SelfServ Checkout Solution Specialist for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, comments, “Consumers across the world are demanding the speed, convenience and control offered by self-service. Indeed, research shows that shoppers are more likely to shop with a retailer that provides self-checkout technology. SPAR is a great innovator and is differentiating itself from competitors by offering its customers market-leading self-checkout technology.”

NCR SelfServ Checkouts handled over 2.5 billion shopping transactions last year in the grocery, do-it-yourself (DIY), general merchandise and health and beauty retail sub-sectors. The deployment at SPAR in Slovenia increases the total number of countries in which NCR’s self-checkout solution is being used to 22 globally.

About SPAR
SPAR is the biggest voluntary retail chain in the world which operates under the same name and appears with a consistent logo in 33 countries. The companies in each country operate completely autonomously and independently from each other and are not connected by corporate law. The international SPAR headquarter has its registered office in Amsterdam and supports the individual SPAR countries by strengthening of the brand name SPAR, the development of the worldwide common purchase as well as the advancement of the mutual exchange of experiences and the acquisition of new SPAR member countries. www.spar-int.com

About NCR Corporation

NCR Corporation (NYSE: NCR) is a global technology company and leader in automated teller machines, self-checkouts and other self- and assisted-service solutions, serving customers in more than 100 countries.  NCR's software, hardware, consulting and support services help organizations in retail, financial, travel, healthcare and other industries interact with consumers across multiple channels.

Printec Group is the Silver Sponsor of the 7th CEE Telecoms 2010 Conference

Athens, Greece, January 25th , 2010 - Printec Group announces its participation as the Silver Sponsor of the 7th international conference CEE Telecoms 2010 which will be held in Bucharest, from 27th to 28th of January 2010. The event focuses on the latest developments and covers the most critical issues in the telecommunications industry in Central and Eastern Europe and more specifically the markets in Southeast Europe.

As the exclusive Silver Partner of the event, Printec Group together with its partner Tejas Networks, invites conference participants to visit the company’s stand at the conference, meet its experts onsite, and listen to company executives and strategic partners elaborating on a portfolio of solutions, compiled to address some of the key challenges faced by modern telecom organizations. Conference participants will also have the opportunity to listen to a presentation on January 29th at 12:20, on the “Evolution of Hybrid Networks” by Dr. Sarath Kumar, VP Engineering, Tejas Networks, Printec Group’s telecommunications partner.

This prestigious event is especially targeted towards decision makers, top managers and IT specialists from local and regional telecom companies. The conference will focus on trends in telecommunications like mobile, internet, broadband, digital TV and converging media including broadband, triple play, IPTV as well as 3G developments. It will give an informative insight into the Balkan region, covering regulatory developments, major players in the fixed-line, broadband, convergence and mobile markets, the development of new product offerings for the CEE markets, as well as presenting a variety of case-studies in addition to best practice presentations by senior professionals.

About Tejas Networks

Tejas Networks is a leading enabler of high-performance telecom infrastructure by developing innovative carrier class communications equipment. Tejas Networks has witnessed enormous success with telecom service providers globally, by helping them build networks that efficiently aggregate bandwidth at the edge of the network, thereby offering substantial savings in capex and opex for its customers, in addition to offering many new revenue-generating, data services. For more information about Tejas Networks, please visit www.tejasnetworks.com

Printec Group to Participate in the EMVCο Terminal Approval Working Group

Athens, Greece, November 12th, 2009 - Printec Group announces that the company has been invited to participate in the EMVCο Terminal Approval Working Group, which is being organized  in Paris France on November 16th, by EMVCο, the EMV standards Body owned by MasterCard Worldwide, VISA Inc, JCB Co. Ltd. and American Express. The meeting’s purpose is for EVMCo to inform and receive feedback from all participants regarding all aspects of future certification processes on all technologies. The meeting has been limited to a small number of vendor experts, including Dr. Fotis Moulatsiotis, Group Director S/W Research & Development Division, Printec Group.

EMVCο was formed in 1999 by Europay International, MasterCard International and Visa International to manage, maintain and enhance the EMV™ Integrated Circuit Card Specifications for Payment Systems in order to ensure interoperability and acceptance of payment system integrated circuit cards on a worldwide basis.

Printec Group is among the few international system vendors chosen to participate in the closed panel discussion. Printec Group was selected by EMVCo due to its longstanding experience in developing and testing certified EMV kernels.

Printec Group exceeds €100 million in revenues with impressive profit growth for 2008

Athens, Greece, November 9th, 2009 – Printec Group, the leading provider of Transaction Automation Solutions in South-eastern Europe announced its financial results for fiscal year 2008, its first consolidated financial results according to the International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS). Against a background of financial crisis in the banking sector of South-eastern Europe during the second half of 2008, Printec Group has recorded impressive growth across the board compared to 2007.

Consolidated turnover reached €100.7 mil., increased by 14% compared to 2007. Earnings before taxes improved by 66% reaching €10.8 mil. after the adjustments resulting from the initial IFRS implementation. The Group’s cash reserves amounted to €15 mil., with very limited financial leverage and with an exceptional capital structure with a net debt to equity ratio of 0.3.

2008 has been a year of intense development and investment activities for the Group which:

• expanded its product portfolio to include  integrated solutions for the retail & telco infrastructure sectors are. 

• launched Printec Czech Republic to provide high-end transaction automation products and services to the local market, thus paving the way for its 15th operating subsidiary .

• upgraded its physical infrastructure in Croatia, Slovenia and Bulgaria, to include  new owned offices and warehouses.

• signed a strategic partnership with Oberthur, a leading provider of card solutions, software and applications for exclusive distribution in South-eastern Europe’s financial institutions.

These are the Group’s first financial statements since its re-domiciling to Cyprus and the establishment of Printec Holdings which will henceforth consolidate the business activities in the 15 countries of operation.

With regards to the company’s financial performance, the Group’s Chairman & CEO Mr. Haris Konstantinou, said: «The consolidated financial results announced today, confirm, once more, our expectations and commitments for 2008. In such a period of global financial crisis and insecurity, Printec stands out not only as the most appropriate but also as the most reliable partner in South-eastern Europe. Our increased business volumes combined with high profitability and a conservative capital structure attest beyond any doubt to our customers’ trust in the Group’s development strategy».

Success Story:

Printec's SW solution has been chosen by ING and MasterCard in the first Romanian M-payments pilot project

Printec Group Romania, subsidiary of Printec Group announces that its software application for VeriFone terminals has been chosen by ING Romania & MasterCard for the implementation of the first mobile-payments pilot in the country, using near field communications (NFC) technology. The application will enable the wireless communication between the phones the retailers’ terminals. The project has initially been implemented in 30 merchant locations in Bucharest and will last six months.

ING Romania and MasterCard have partnered together in order to offer Romanian clients a Mobile Payments application which will enable them to pay, make transactions and feed their accounts - all using their mobile phone. The product is based on Maestro® PayPass™, a MasterCard contactless payment product designed for small purchases. This is the first contactless project on the Romanian market and it will enable customers to use their mobile phone to pay for low value purchases by simply tapping the mobile phone to a specially equipped terminal. The maximum amount per transaction is 80 RON (approximately 20 euros). This way, consumers will be able to take advantage of the versatility, speed and security of contactless payments.

More specifically Printec’s software application will enable the connection between Verifone’s VX510 & QX110 contactless terminals with the bank’s host system using NFC technology which is based on a short-range wireless connectivity, and designed for intuitive, simple and safe interaction between electronic devices. The solution features an easy-to-use mobile account that gives users access to their balance and enables them to top-up their balance immediately by using ‘Over–the-Air’ reload functionalities.

New Subsidiary in Czech Republic

Athens, Greece May, 2009 Printec Group of Companies, committed to its strategic decision for geographic expansion, announces the opening of its 15th subsidiary in South Eastern Europe, Printec Czech Republic. The new subsidiary has been announced during the Czech Bank Card Association meeting that took place in Pisek, Czech Republic on May 20th-21st.  Jan Podolsky, General Manager of Printec Czech Republic, made the official announcement of the new company which will provide the local market with the premium-level of products and services that the Group offers together with its partners.

“Our new subsidiary in Czech Republic marks our entrance in one of the most challenging markets in South Eastern Europe. This move is fully aligned with our strategic orientation to constant geographic expansion,” said Harris Konstantinou, Chairman & CEO of Printec Group. “Our company has always developed innovative products and services, based on high quality technical expertise and know how. This new subsidiary proves our commitment to provide the local market with reliable solutions and the necessary infrastructure in order to meet our customers’ most demanding requirements. Our successful presence in the region during the last twenty years as well as the implementation of projects has made our company the partner of choice for major organisations in the region.”