During the period of restrictive measures, there was a decline in contactless physical presence transactions. Post-pandemic, brick-and-mortar transactions soared as many consumers chose to complete their purchases electronically, or through e-commerce or other similar tools. Today, 7 out of 10 internet users prefer to shop online.

Dionysis Grigoratos, managing director of Nexi Greece, a subsidiary of the Nexi Group, the European PayTech leader, stated the above, speaking about the digital payments market in Greece, participating in a conference with the central theme of banking digital services and FinTech.

“Merchants today, whether they are freelancers, SMEs, or large retailers, are looking for “the ability to accept contactless payments wherever they are easily, quickly, and always securely, and to provide their customers with the most modern payment method, that supports contactless transactions, with digital wallets, smartphones or wearables”, pointed out Mr. Gregorattos. Accordingly, he emphasized that “there are no longer borders in e-commerce, which means that the consumer, wherever he is, can take his card and buy a product. The ability to serve all types of cards in electronic sales is extremely important,” he said, while underlining the comparative advantage of the solutions provided by Nexi.

The Lifetime card transactions have accelerated steadily since 2019. As Mr. Grigoratos explained, the regulatory framework and the wider modernization of the tax administration played a key role. He also referred to the European funds available through the “Greece 2.0” Recovery Fund, which refer to the subsidy of POS terminals, with the aim of benefiting small and medium-sized enterprises and enabling them to modernize and achieve their digital transition. “It is an initiative that Nexi has embraced, even at Group level, making sure to communicate it to all our customers.”

In relation to more advanced solutions, such as e-commerce and e-shops, the head of Nexi in Greece noted that the ability to sell products and services through a digital environment “is not a privilege of large businesses”, urging small and medium-sized businesses and freelancers to turn to the adoption of new and flexible ways of selling and transactions that consumers are increasingly looking for today. However, he admitted that there are still significant challenges, as “a business needs to have the right people who can set up an e-shop, connect it to the payment platform, and be able to maintain a multi-payment environment – which obviously it is not without cost.”

“Technology will come to answer many of these needs,” he said, acknowledging, however, that the PayTech sector in Greece is newly established, with new companies still in the planning phase. He referred to Nexi’s leading position in Europe and in the country, the know-how the company receives from the group’s experience in the Nordic countries, but also the technology the company exports from Greece to Europe. “In the Center of Excellence, we have over 150 engineering software developers, who, on behalf of the Group, now develop the issuing platform, with the aim of providing the relevant services to the entire Nexi network in Europe.” The Center of Excellence plays a strategic role for the whole of Nexi, and at the same time demonstrates Nexi’s confidence in domestic talent.

With reference to the sector, Mr. Grigoratos emphasized that all PayTech companies will soon start presenting the solutions and innovations they are preparing for the domestic market. In this context, he made a brief reference to Nexi’s SoftPOS, an application that enables the acceptance of contactless payments on smartphones or tablets running on Android, stressing that it is a particularly useful tool for categories of customers who do not wish to carry additional devices, such as taxis or kiosks, especially from the beginning of next year that should be able to offer their customers the option of electronic payment.