Valitor

Valitor hf.
Company typePrivate
IndustryElectronic Payment Services
Founded1983 (as Visa Iceland)
Headquarters,
Iceland
ServicesPayment Services, Payment gateway
Websitewww.valitor.com

Valitor is a merchant services, acquirer, card issuer and payment gateway solutions company headquartered in Hafnarfjörður, Iceland. Valitor is Visa's and Mastercard's partner in Iceland and offers various online and e-commerce solutions internationally.[1]

History

Valitor was founded in 1983 by five banks and thirteen savings banks under the name Visa Iceland.[2][3] In 2007 Greiðslumiðlun hf. changed its name to Valitor in a move to further its international services.[4]

On 7 December 2010, following the leak of the US diplomatic cables in February 2010 and the leak of Afghan War documents in July 2010, Valitor suspended payments towards the data company DataCell, the company processing donations for WikiLeaks.[5] On 12 July 2012 a Reykjavík court ruled that Valitor had to start processing donations within fourteen days[6] on pain of daily fines to the amount of ISK 800,000 for each day after that time, to open the payment gateway. Valitor also had to pay DataCell's litigation costs of ISK 1,500,000.[7]

In 2015, Valtor was selected as one of six companies to service ApplePay in Europe.[8]

In July 2017, Valitor bought UK based Chip & PIN Solutions.[9]

In April 2020, Valitor courted controversy as it was accused of using the COVID-19 pandemic to sack staff. The issue arose when Valitor fired 14 entry level staff at its Glasgow branch, claiming they were “restructuring the business”. However, the company is said to have kept on all its HR and senior management by putting them on furlough.[10]

Valitor is now part of Rapyd, a global payment processing and fintech-as-a-service company.[11]

References

  1. ^ "About Us", valitor.com. Retrieved 18 July 2013.
  2. ^ "Útgefin greiðslukort bráðum 100 þúsund". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 19 August 1988. p. 35. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  3. ^ "Nýtt greiðslukortafyrirtæki". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 6 August 1983. p. 20. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  4. ^ Grétar Júníus Guðmundsson (13 September 2007). "Tækifærin liggja í útrásinni". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). p. 8. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  5. ^ Kolbeinn Tumi Daðason (24 April 2019). "Valitor dæmt til að greiða 1,2 milljarða". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 10 July 2021.
  6. ^ Niklas Svensson (12 July 2012). "Tvingas öppna för Wikileaksdonationer". Sveriges Television (in Swedish). Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  7. ^ "Judgement Reykjavík District Court, 12 July 2012 in case number E-561/2012: Datacell ehf.", English translation of judgment. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  8. ^ "Valitor þjónustar Apple Pay í Evrópu". Viðskiptablaðið (in Icelandic). 11 June 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  9. ^ Magnús Halldórsson (5 July 2007). "Valitor kaupir Chip & PIN Solutions". Kjarninn (in Icelandic). Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  10. ^ John Glover (6 April 2020). "One of UK's largest retail merchant services company slammed for "using pandemic to sack staff"". Deadline News. Retrieved 22 June 2021.
  11. ^ "Rapyd to Acquire Valitor Expanding Access to Global Payments for its European Customers". Rapyd. Retrieved 2023-07-19.
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