What is the difference between Ingenico & VeriFone?

Ingenico and VeriFone are the two leading manufacturers of stand-alone point-of-sale terminals. Understanding the differentiators between the two may be useful to business owners and merchants.

The two manufacturers are quite alike. Ingenico was founded in 1980 in Paris, and VeriFone in 1981 in San Jose. In 2013, Ingenico and VeriFone generated similar revenue at 1.89 billion and 1.7 billion respectively.

Despite their similarities in revenue,  VeriFone had a 51.5 percent share of all US terminal shipments where Ingenico held 17.4 percent of the US market last year.  Although it seems that VeriFone is a dominant force in the market, VeriFone’s shipments had a 17 percent drop from the previous year, while Ingenico’s share increased by 47 percent. However on a global scale, Ingenico holds a 30 percent shipment share, while VeriFone holds a 18.6 percent share.

With the changing U.S. market moving towards EMV compatible terminals, Ingenico seems to be on the rise this year. Ingenico’s expertise on EMV terminals and advanced security protocols could continue to bring an increase in sales and shipments. Noticing this trend, last year VeriFone replaced their CEO, bringing in Paul Galant, who remodeled the company’s strategic plan, in hopes to stay on top of the market. (via Pymnts.com)

Under Paul Galant’s new company vision to “become our clients’ most trusted, most secure and innovative partner by delivering terminals, payment as a service and commerce enablement solutions.” VeriFone has been identifying internal areas of improvement and is working to reduce complexity across the company and increase security protocols.2014 will be a defining time to see if VeriFone’s new strategic plan and redefined operations can combat Ingenico’s seemingly rising share of terminal shipments.  

Want to learn more about the two companies? Take a look at this infographic via Pymnts.com