Nexi Croatia is a member of the Nexi Group, a European paytech company that provides secure and fast payment solutions at points of sale with modern technological infrastructure. With changes in the company’s leadership, the expansion of strategic partnerships, and integration with providers of advanced financial services, it will further ensure solutions tailored to the needs of clients and the market.
Before becoming the CEO of Nexi Croatia, Irina Bručić was the director of Nexi Croatia since 2021, following the integration of paytech companies Nets and Nexi. She emphasized that Nexi Croatia, in addition to providing services to banks, financial institutions, and public bodies, intends to become a leading provider of innovative solutions for merchants.
Since April, you have been the CEO of Nexi Croatia. In which direction will you develop the business?
– More precisely, since April of this year, Nexi Croatia has expanded its Management Board to three members, so alongside me, Gordana Breyer and Jasna Fumagalli are also in it. All three of us have many years of experience in the financial and technological sectors. We have gained it in various business areas, so they complement each other excellently. The impetus for such a move was the expansion of the company’s business, which since March has been processing payment transactions for issuers and acquirers in partnership with PBZ Card and also handling card acceptance. Such a shift required licensing from the Croatian National Bank and leading card schemes. The impact of this on the volume and business indicators is significant. However, although card payment acceptance is an activity we pay great attention to and see significant growth potential in, the company will continue to focus on the development of technological platforms and products that support not only its own acceptance but also the processing of card issuance and acceptance for our existing clients – banks in the region. Here, I want to emphasize that in this segment of our business, additional impetus comes from the integration of Nexi and SIA at the global level, which for us in the region means that Nexi Croatia and SIA Central Europe operate under the same umbrella and offer an even wider range of products to their clients.
Can you compare the Croatian and European paytech markets? What are the trends and challenges?
– The European market is difficult to generalize: almost every country, especially if it has a larger market, is characterized by specificities. Also, the relationship between digital and cash payments is not necessarily proportional to the development of an economy. Therefore, the Nexi Group has strategically decided to be global by scale, local by nature, which actually means that given its strength and reach, we can create competitive payment solutions that we know how to tailor to each market. If we talk about trends, they certainly include the increasingly strong use of payment data for the purpose of creating insights, analyses, and predictions, as well as the introduction of artificial intelligence into payment processes. This is a result of the fact that digital payment is increasingly becoming a commodity that creates a foundation for value-added services for our clients. Challenges at this moment are perhaps most grouped into two categories: the cost of capital, which particularly affects small players and startups financed by private equity funds, and the regulatory framework that becomes increasingly demanding with each new directive and requires large investments.
Will cash really disappear from use?
– I believe that cash will exist for a long time, but increasingly as an alternative means of payment. Even today, in many countries in Northern and Western Europe, it is completely unnecessary to have it with you because everything, including tipping waiters in restaurants or rewarding street performers, can be paid digitally. However, there are large markets like Germany or Italy where cash is still quite prevalent. The transition from cash payments to digital ones will be accelerated, I believe, by the increasingly pronounced digitalization of society as a whole and the ubiquitous Internet of Things.
