| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as | TSX-V: VPY |
| Industry | Financial services, payment processing |
| Founded | 2005 |
| Headquarters | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Area served | North America |
| Employees | >30 (April, 2011) |
| Website | VersaPay Corporation Website |
VersaPay Corporation (TSXV:VPY), commonly known as VersaPay, is a national Canadian payment processing and payment systems company with offices in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. The company provides electronic transaction processing services to various sizes of businesses (public, private, and government) in both Canada and the United States of America. VersaPay is currently listed on the TSX Venture Exchange.[1]
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VerasPay, “versa” meaning “versatile”, has set itself apart from the tightly regulated Canadian banking industry by providing fully bundled financial transaction products and services such as merchant accounts, Electronic Bill Presentment & Payment Services (EBPP) for consumers and businesses.[2] While the payment processing industry in Canada is worth $300 Billion,[3] the vast majority of it is controlled by large corporations such as Moneris Solutions, a joint venture between RBC and BMO, and TD Merchant Services. VersaPay has been able to compete in the Canadian market by making strategic partnership with a number of other businesses and associations in North America, complemented by a customer-focused business model.
In 2009, Canadian Business Magazine named VersaPay Corporation the fastest growing company in Canada. Revenue for VersaPay had grown from $50,000 in 2006 to $5.1 Million in 2008, processing an estimated $230 Million in 2008 from over 2800 clients.[3]
After a casual suggestion from a friend to create a payment processing system for a client in Toronto, VersaPay Corporation was founded in 2005 by Michael Gokturk, an investment banker, and Kevin Short, an IT architecture specialist. Both began accepting new clients, mostly “brick-and-mortar” and mid-sized businesses, in 2007 as they setup the company’s new headquarters in Vancouver, BC. VersaPay began to diversify its client-base by introducing a new proprietary payment processing solution for both B2B (business to business) and B2C (business to consumer) transactions called VersaPay. (See below for more information.)[4]
In January 2007, VersaPay partnered with the Canadian affiliate of Chase Paymentech, a United States based payment processing company. This strategic partnership allowed VersaPay to begin processing commonly used electronic payment methods such as Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover, JCB, Interac Direct Debit and Interac Online. VersaPay began to use the Chase name when marketing VersaPay to clients in order to increase the assurance and reliability of the VersaPay’s products. After building up enough reputation, VersaPay stopped using the Chase name only one year later.[3][5]
Beyond e-commerce solutions, VersaPay lacked the ability to provide new, up-and-coming point of sale payment solutions: wireless point of sale. In February 2008, VersaPay acquired a 75% interest in Positive Inc., a wireless payment technology provider, to offer this option to their clients. In June 2010, VersaPay agreed to sell its ownership in Positive Inc. back to the company in return for shares in VersaPay.[6]
VersaPay filed its intention to list its shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange on January 20, 2010. Shares began to be sold on the Toronto Stock Exchange Venture (TSX-V) under the letters “VPY”.[7]
In late May 2010, VersaPay Board of Directors announced they had replaced VersaPay Founder & Director Michael Gokturk as Chief Executive Officer of the company. In his place, the Board named Bill McGill, the former Chief Financial Officer, as the Acting Chief Executive Officer.[8] While Gokturk was no longer the CEO, he still remained on the Board of Directors with VersaPay.
On July 12, 2010, VersaPay Corporation announced the resignation of Micheal Gokturk from the Board of Directors of VersaPay effective immediately. No reason was given for the sudden departure. Bill McGill was formally appointed the new CEO of VersaPay shortly afterwards.[9]