US contract win and partnership

Eckoh plc (AIM:ECK), the global provider of secure payment products and customer contact solutions, has secured a four-year contract to provide its Secure Payments solution, CallGuard, to a US Fortune 250 retailer, and a partnership with a global payments solutions company in the US.

US Contract Win
The contract is worth a minimum of $1.9m over four years and underlines the Group's strong momentum in US payments. It was won through Eckoh's partner, West Corporation, a technology-enabled communications company. The Group has now won 11 US payment contracts in the current financial year, two more than in the prior financial year.

The US Fortune 250 retailer has selected Eckoh's patented and market-leading tokenisation solution, which requires no significant changes to the client's IT systems or internal processes, allowing for straightforward and efficient integration. The solution, which will be deployed alongside the client's IT environment, will protect all payments made through their contact centre facilities. Eckoh continues to see the largest contracts and opportunities in the US requiring an onsite deployment.

The Group's significant and growing US presence, together with its ability to provide local support, are just two of the key advantages identified by customers when selecting Eckoh, as well as the ease of integration of the solution and the ability to provide live customer references.

US partnership
Eckoh also announces today a new US partnership with a global payments solutions company, who work with millions of individual merchants across the globe. This forms part of the Company's strategy to broaden its partner channels. The relationship will see the company introduce Eckoh to its US customers where they have a requirement to secure the card transactions taken in their contact centre environments. Eckoh expects this to significantly add to its pipeline of opportunities in the new financial year.

Nik Philpot, Chief Executive Officer, commented:
"We continue to see good momentum in US secure payments. Our offering and ability to deliver either onsite or in the cloud gives customers total flexibility in how they deploy and then evolve the solution. This contract win for one of America's best-known brands demonstrates Eckoh's position as the preferred supplier for the largest companies. In addition, we are pleased to add a key partner to accelerate our penetration of the market and expect to build on this momentum."