Net Element Bets on Blockchain and Internet of Things

Net Element (NASDAQ:NETE) on Thursday released a letter to its shareholders with the company highlighting its growth and product launches in 2018.

As quoted in the press release:

“For us, 2018 was a year of continued organic growth in the United States. We strengthened our competitive posture by focusing on value-added payment solutions, and along the way executed several complex initiatives, took bold steps to increase our gross margins, and were again regarded as one of the fastest growing technology companies in America,” Oleg Firer, CEO of Net Element, said in the letter. “We are pleased to highlight the following achievements, which we believe are a strong catalyst for growth in the years ahead.

Accomplishments:

• Acquired recurring cash flow portfolio from Argus Merchant Services. Acquisition is projected to add over $4 million in gross profits over the next 4 years
• Completed acquisition of recurring cash flow portfolio from Universal Payment Systems. Acquisition is projected to add over $5 million in gross profits over the next 4 years
• Ranked as one of the fastest growing companies in North America on Deloitte’s 2018 Technology Fast 500^TM
• Winner of two categories at ACQ5 Global Awards 2018, CEO named “Gamechanger of the Year”
• Jon Najarian of CNBC “Halftime Report” and “Fast Money,” and Jonathan Fichman, fintech & startup executive joined Net Element’s board of directors

Transaction Performance:

• Achieved organic growth across all categories
• Total transaction dollars processed during 2018 increased 18% to more than $3.3 billion compared to $2.8 billion in 2017
• Total transaction dollars processed geographically in North American and international markets in 2018 were $2.9 billion and $354 million, respectfully
• Total transactions processed for 2018 exceeded 149 million, a decline of 3% due to the consolidation of the mobile solutions business
• North American segment transactions processed for 2018 increased 37% to 59 million compared to 43 million transactions in 2017

Partnerships: 

• Entered into a partnership with Payment Club for subscription-based payment processing services for small businesses. New agreement projected to add over $1.5 million in gross profits over the next 4 years
• Partnered with VIP Systems to launch seamless payments for the hospitality industry. New offering targets the multi-billion dollar travel and hospitality industry
• Entered into a joint venture with Bank Sputnik to launch a new payment processing center that will enable financial institutions and value-added providers to meet consumer demand for secure frictionless payment acceptance services

Product launches:

• Launched Netevia, future-ready multi-channel payments platform
• Launched multi-channel blockchain powered payments acceptance application as part of the Netevia platform
• Launched subscription-based payment processing services for small businesses. New offering targets the multi-billion dollar subscription economy
• Launched Netevia Light POS, a seamless and secure mobile payments acceptance software available on smart terminals by PAX Technology
• Launched Aptito on the world’s first smart payment terminal. This comprehensive POS solution is now available for restaurants on the Poynt Smart Payment terminal
• Launched compliant payments solution for the legal cannabis industry.  This new secure and regulatory compliant offering targets the fast growing cannabidiol (“CBD”) industry
• Launched Netevia Smart Vendor payment solutions for B2B sales, breaking into the $7.7 trillion B2B sales market
• Launched an intelligent payments solution that addresses the needs of North America’s $845 billion events industry
• Launched “Fast Pass Funding”, a same-day funding service available through our Netevia platform.

Moving forward, exciting projects and disruptive technologies like blockchain and Internet of Things (“IoT”) will provide us the opportunity to continue developing and delivering innovative payments solutions. We remain focused on reaching sustainable profitability for the Company, and expanding and monetizing value-added services around Netevia, our future-ready multi-channel payments platform.

Click here for the full text release.