Ogone

Ogone was established in 1996 as Abssys Consulting by founders Harold Mechelynck and Thierry Pierson in Brussels, Belgium. The firm positioned itself as a payment service provider, developing a platform to manage and secure online payments for card-not-present transactions. This catered to a growing e-commerce market, offering businesses a technical gateway for various digital payment methods, including e-commerce, m-commerce, and mail/telephone orders.

The company's business model revolved around providing a software-as-a-service (SaaS) platform that connected merchants with over 200 banks and acquirers. This enabled merchants to accept more than 80 international and local payment methods, thereby expanding their customer reach and improving checkout conversion rates. Ogone generated revenue by facilitating these transactions for its client base, which grew to over 42,000 merchants by 2013, including major organizations like Tui, Just Eat, and DHL International. The service was designed to simplify the complexity of cross-border payments for online merchants.

Key features of the Ogone platform included extensive back-office capabilities, multi-currency processing, and advanced fraud prevention systems. In 2003, it became the first European payment service provider to develop and certify a 3-D Secure MPI module, enhancing security for remote payments. The platform also offered functionalities like a customizable payment page, tokenization for saved card details, and a suite of reporting tools for transaction management.

A significant milestone occurred in 2010 when Summit Partners acquired a majority stake, aiming to accelerate Ogone's international growth. This partnership led to the 2011 acquisition of EBS (E-Billing Solutions) in India, marking Ogone's first expansion outside of Europe. The company's growth trajectory culminated in its acquisition by Ingenico Group in January 2013 for an enterprise value of €360 million. Following the acquisition, Ogone was rebranded as Ingenico Payment Services, becoming the digital payment services arm of the Ingenico Group. Subsequently, Ingenico itself was acquired by Worldline in 2020, and the Ogone platform and its services were integrated under the Worldline brand.

Keywords: Ogone, payment service provider, online payments, card-not-present, e-commerce, payment gateway, Ingenico Payment Services, Worldline, Harold Mechelynck, Thierry Pierson, Abssys Consulting, fraud prevention, risk management, cross-border payments, multi-currency, payment processing, SaaS, fintech, digital payments, merchant services, payment solutions, 3-D Secure, European payments, online merchants, acquiring, payment methods, transaction management, back-office, m-commerce, mail order, telephone order, payment security, Brussels, Belgium, Summit Partners