There’s a new online billing powerhouse in the U.K.
Commerce Gate from the Electronic Group, a Barcelona-based online billing solutions company backed by more than 20 years of experience and expertise from adult industry veterans, will fill the need for online European adult consumers, says Bjorn Skarlen, manager of new business development for the company.
The company wanted to utilize superior industry knowledge in order to make it safer and easier for webmasters to offer myriad payment options and substantially boost revenues.
“We saw an opportunity to help clients mainly based in Europe to more efficiently process with credit cards. We got ourselves strong partners in technology and market knowledge and presence, and we incorporated Commerce Gate,” says Skarlen. “Strong financing partners helped start the business, and we began hiring people in November 2005. We’ve hired sales people for France, Germany, Spain, and Holland—covering the U.K. and Scandinavian markets as well. We had a great platform to build our customer base.”
As an authorized Internet Payment Service Provider (IPSP), Commerce Gate offers online businesses a complete set of services in order to start accepting credit card payments from their customers quickly and safely. Commerce Gate’s all-in-one billing solution includes advanced fraud protection, secure access management, online tools, and exclusive client and end-user support.
“Because of the cumulative industry knowledge of the involved partners, we are able to process in many countries that have, up until now, remained largely untouched, and this makes a huge difference to the webmaster’s bottom line,” Skarlen says. “Commerce Gate is constantly developing and improving its fraud prevention tools. We realize how crucial this is in today’s tough market. At the end of the day, webmasters want to catch quality customers through their affiliate program. We take the balance between scrubbing and conversion very seriously.
“We provide customer support in six languages, and that makes quite a difference when dealing efficiently with chargebacks and credits,” he adds. “Client support is flexible and provided on demand, as one of our main goals is to always ensure the happiness of both our clients and the end consumer. So far, this model is working very well.”
In addition, the company incorporates Charge Me Later as a method of billing. Charge Me Later allows online consumers to purchase goods or services on a site in three easy steps without using a credit card and revealing only minimal personal information.
“When you check out our very low fraud rates and our ever-climbing conversions, the numbers speak for themselves,” says Skarlen. “Also, by being partnered with one of the industry’s leading alternative billing companies, we are able to offer our clients an even wider array of services.
“‘International billing for the European Webmaster’: This slogan explains our goals and objectives,” he continues. “We aim to become the leader of a booming market, and we believe we are very well situated to take a big piece of market share. We’ll do this by continuing to give the best technology and client support and by providing the most cutting-edge tools for this specialized and fruitful market.”
Commerce Gate continues to look forward. The company’s short-term goals include providing additional local solutions and alternative billing options without losing sight of the main objective.
“To provide the best European credit card services available, we believe that every extra dollar we can put in the webmaster’s pocket makes a real difference, and we are tirelessly dedicated to making that happen,” offers Skarlen. “We plan to continue strengthening our already solid relationships with the banks and the card companies, and while this is mostly behind the scenes, we are fully aware of the impact it has on our clients’ profitability.”
The company continues to keep an eye on the latest trends, with attendance and participation at various international and stateside trade shows.
“Our first show was the AOE trade show in Amsterdam, and it was quite an experience being at a trade show where no one knew who we were. We networked, found many leads, and business started moving immediately,” says Skarlen. “As everyone knows, new ventures take time, and setting up an aggregation billing company is no exception.”
