and New Jobs Announced

FEXCO, one of Ireland’s largest indigeneous outsourcing providers, announced today (Friday, 30th September 2011) that the Certificate of Irish Heritage (the Certificate) is available online, subject to an application process, at www.heritagecertificate.ie as the company unveiled its online global business service–for-Government.  The company announced 60 new jobs arising from this and other business outsourcing contracts.

Earlier this month, the Tánaiste, Eamon Gilmore T.D., presented the first Certificate of Irish Heritage to the family of Joe Hunter, a New York fireman, who lost his life in the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre. 

FEXCO operates the Certificate service on behalf of the Government, a key element in its diaspora engagement strategy to acknowledge and mark the deep connection to Ireland felt by many people of Irish descent.  More than 70 million people worldwide are estimated to claim Irish ancestry. 

The Government awarded FEXCO the contract for one year on a pilot basis, which is extendable to five years. 

FEXCO executed the set-up project in 18 weeks and has invested significantly in the service.  It is funded solely by application fees, set at €40 per Certificate by the Government, which has no funding commitment for the service (¹).

FEXCO’s full service delivery includes the Certificate design; website, online application and payment software development; IT and data security; customer service and administration; and promotion of the Certificate of Irish Heritage. 

The service’s technology and operations are based in a specialist FEXCO facility in Killorglin, Co. Kerry.  Robust website and data security systems protect the service (²).  FEXCO’s IT infrastructure incorporating data centres is resilient, flexible, scalable and secure and is serviced by its 90-strong IT staff across its software, infrastructure, and support engineer groups.

The company already provides business outsourcing services to Government and state-related agencies where it manages the administration of the Prize Bonds in partnership with An Post on behalf of the National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA).  FEXCO also operates Bord Gáis’ customer service operations and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland’s Home Energy Saving Scheme.

The design of the Certificates, their printing and framing is sourced and managed by FEXCO from a group of Irish companies and experts.  The all-digital production process allows for multiple Certificate designs and languages (³).

Key target markets include the US, Canada, Argentina, Mexico, the UK, Australia and New Zealand.  Customer service agent support is available by e-mail and telephone to advise on applications and answer applicant questions.

The www.heritagecertificate.ie website will join a network of state agency websites in the Government’s diaspora outreach programme.  A series of state agencies are expected to collaborate and link with the Certificate of Irish Heritage website including those in the tourism sector and holding family history records.

Speaking at the announcement, Ger O’Sullivan, FEXCO’s Head of Business Services, said, “FEXCO has designed, developed and delivered an online global business service-for-Government using our Outsourcing division’s expertise and experience together with FEXCO Group’s resources and support.” 

“The Certificate of Irish Heritage service demonstrates how a leading private sector business outsourcing specialist can collaborate effectively with Government to design and operate an important global service online for the State to the highest industry standards,” he added.

Full details of the Certificate designs, the application and delivery process, the fee and Frequently Asked Questions are available at www.heritagecertificate.ie.

ENDS

 Notes to Editors:

(¹)        The contract between the Government and FEXCO provides for revenue sharing after the first year.  First-year revenues will offset set-up costs.

(²)        Website and data security accords with The Open Web Applications Security Project (OWASP) standard for secure website development.

(³)        The Certificate of Irish Heritage logo was handwritten by Tim O’Neill, a renowned calligrapher and Master Scribe.  Dublin-based Vermillion Design Consultants Ireland designed the Certificate and Colorman (Ireland) Limited will print the Certificates using one of the most advanced digital printing presses in Ireland.  Frames for the Certificate of Irish Heritage will be provided by Cork-based Strand Framing.  FEXCO developed a suite of frames and specialised packaging to complement the Certificates.

Applicants can choose from a number of designs.  They have the same content, but with different visual themes relating to Ireland.  Three designs are initially available: Emigrant Ship, Dublin Bay, 1853; Celtic Knot; and West of Ireland.  Certificates are available in English, Irish and Spanish.

For further information, please contact:

Barry Ahern, Business Management Communications

Telephone: (01) 4830832 or (087) 6683574

E-mail: barry.ahern@bmcomms.ie

Reporting to: Development Team Leader

Job Purpose: FEXCO DCC is looking for an enthusiastic Java, JavaScript and Database Developer to join FEXCO DCC’s team in building world-class systems. You will join a successful team practicing eXtreme Programming, and as a team member be responsible for the development of the company’s software requirements. We are looking for a developer with a proven track record of delivering high quality business critical software, especially using web technologies.

Main duties and Responsibilities:

• Work in a pair programming environment on production code
• Use test-driven development
• Take part in iteration planning
• Work closely with other teams, i.e. support, sys admin

Competencies:

• BS or MS in Computer Science, Information Systems, or equivalent
• 3+ years of server-side java experience
• Experience with JavaScript and Ext JS library required
• Experience with SQL (preferable Oracle)
• Knowledge of servlets, JSP and scripting languages (python, perl) a plus
• Experience with any of the Spring Framework and Hibernate would be an advantage
• Excellent organisation, communication and interpersonal skills
• Strong customer orientation or professional services background
• Desire to work in an XP environment

Please respond, demonstrating how your competencies match the key requirements of this role by submitting a current CV to Lorraine Corcoran, lcorcoran@fexco.com, FEXCO Group Human Resources. FEXCO is an equal opportunities employer.

Organised by Gulliver Ireland, the cost effective provider of reservations and tourism information, the competition’s search for new Irish iconic images, which are held in association with John Hinde Ireland, was also launched.

The winning photograph entitled ‘Ice Age’ was taken by Martin Marcisovsky, a Slovakian living in Ireland, at a beach on Fanad Head. The picture features frozen water, ice and snow in the foreground while its focal point is a tree trunk. Fanad Head, site of the well-known lighthouse that was first lit on St. Patrick’s Day 1817, lies on Ireland’s northwestern coast.

Themed ‘An Eye for Ireland’, entrants were challenged to capture a unique and personal view of Ireland. The judging panel received thousands of photographic entries from Irish and visiting tourists. Polish, British, Indian and New Zealand photographers living in Ireland, a UK tourist as well as Clare, Dublin and Tipperary photographers were among the 11 runners-up.

Their photographs featured images of Cavan’s Lough Ramor, Dublin’s North Wall Quays and Skerries Harbour, Tipperary’s Cashel Abbey, Waterford’s Dungarvan Harbour and Abbeyside and the Wicklow Mountains. Images entitled ‘Solo, Co Kerry’, ‘Autumn Reflections, Co Wexford’ and ‘Autumn from the Air’ taken in Co Meath also featured. The winning collection can be viewed at http://www.goireland.com/photos.htm

Launching the awards, the seventh year of the competition, the judging panel that includes renowned photographer and entrepreneur, Jerry Kennelly, invited Irish holidaymakers and visiting tourists to submit photographs that capture Ireland’s unique and beautiful landscape using the theme ‘Ireland’s Hidden Gems’.

Entrants are encouraged to use John Hinde’s series of famous postcards and iconic images of Ireland years ago as inspiration.

The overall winner will receive an award-winning Olympus E-PL1 digital camera and the top 12 photographs will be reproduced as an original John Hinde calendar.

Further details are available at http://www.goireland.com/photos.htm. The closing date for entries is Friday, 16th December 2011 at 3pm

Speaking at the announcement, Lisa Fitzpatrick, Gulliver Ireland’s Marketing Manager, said, “It is heartening to see that visitors and Irish-based photographers continue to capture such a wide range of imaginative images of Ireland. The ‘Eye for Ireland’ theme inspired so many tourists to share their pictorial take on Ireland and we applaud their creativity and energy. Martin Marcisovsky’s winning photograph is a fantastic example of what awaits visiting and domestic tourists when they holiday in Ireland.”

Cormac Leonard, Commercial Director of John Hinde Ireland, said, “John Hinde Ireland is delighted to be associated with the GoIreland.com photographic competition for seven years now and congratulates this year’s winners. These images reaffirm all that is positive about Ireland today.”

For further information, please contact:

Barry Ahern, Business Management Communications
Telephone: (01) 4830832/ (087) 6683574
E-mail: barry.ahern@bmcomms.ie

It is anticipated that the Certificate of Irish Heritage will be available to applicants from Autumn 2011. Further details of the service will be announced in due course by the Department of Foreign Affairs.

Speaking at the announcement, Gavin O’Neill, FEXCO’s Group Managing Director, said, “FEXCO is delighted to have secured this prestigious contract and our team will begin working closely with the Department of Foreign Affairs to design and deliver a Certificate and service of the highest quality.

“FEXCO has a strong track record in successfully managing and delivering large-scale contracts. We are confident that our expertise and experience in implementing contracts of this nature will complement the special resources and innovative approach we apply to delivering effective solutions for our business partners,” added Gavin O’Neill.

For further information, please contact:

Barry Ahern, Business Management Communications
Telephone: (01) 4830832 or (087) 6683574
E-mail: barry.ahern@bmcomms.ie

Speaking at the announcement, Gavin O’Neill, FEXCO’s Group Managing Director said, “We are delighted to welcome Goodbody Stockbrokers to the FEXCO group. The Goodbody brand is synonymous with strong service, expertise and knowledge. We look forward to capitalising on the considerable strengths of both companies to provide the broadest and most competitive portfolio of products and services to our clients and forge stronger business partnerships with our other stakeholders.”

Commenting on the development, the Managing Director of Goodbody Stockbrokers, Roy Barrett said, “The acquisition of Goodbody Stockbrokers by FEXCO is a strong vote of confidence in our business and the strength of our brand in the Irish market. The certainty it provides at a time of considerable challenge for financial services provides a significant boost to our competitive position in the market. In addition, FEXCO’s commitment to investing in the business will underpin our plans for growth in support of our client base. Everyone in the business looks forward to working with FEXCO to fully exploit the potential of the Goodbody brand”.

FEXCO is a specialist provider of Financial Transaction Processing and Outsourcing Services. It is headquartered in Killorglin, County Kerry, where the company was originally founded in 1981 and employs over 1,300 staff worldwide. FEXCO operates as a trusted partner with its customers and provides innovative and alternative solutions to over 11,000 organisations globally including private sector customers and public sector businesses.

As well as Ireland and the UK, FEXCO operates offices in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Dubai, Shanghai, Singapore and Hong Kong.

Goodbody Stockbrokers is Ireland’s longest established stockbroking firm dating back to 1877. The company is a leading provider in institutional equities, private clients and corporate finance and is recognised for its considerable expertise in and knowledge of Irish and international investment markets.

For further information, please contact:
Barry Ahern, Business Management Communications (for FEXCO)
Telephone: (01) 4830832 or (087) 6683574
E-mail: barry.ahern@bmcomms.ie

Gerry O’Sullivan, Q4 Public Relations (for Goodbody Stockbrokers)
Telephone: (01) 4751444 or (087) 2597644
E-mail: gerry@q4pr.ie

Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) enables merchants to provide international MasterCard cardholders with the ability to view the sale amount in both the merchant’s local currency and the cardholder’s home currency, and then allows the cardholder to choose their preferred currency by which to pay. These customers benefit from knowing exactly how much they are spending at the point of sale. The DCC exchange rate remains very competitive while the service is mutually beneficial to the cardholder, merchant, acquiring bank, and DCC provider.

Speaking at today’s launch, Colm McLoughlin, Managing Director of Dubai Duty Free, commented “We are thrilled to be the first merchant in the Gulf Cooperation Council region to offer a fully integrated DCC service to our customers. DCC is new to the region and the support from Network International and FEXCO has been superb, and our customers really appreciate the service. After 27 years in operation and now as the world’s largest single airport duty free operation, I think it is appropriate for Dubai Duty Free to continue to identify and launch new initiatives such as DCC”,

Also attending the launch in the gleaming Emirates Terminal 3 at Dubai International Airport was Ram Chari, CEO of Network International, who added that “Dynamic Currency Conversion as a value added service to our merchants and their customers is typical of the type of new and innovative services we are looking to offer in the acquirer/merchant space in the Middle East. It was important for us to partner with a global leader like FEXCO to bring in their expertise and a fully managed service model so that we could make DCC available to our merchants operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I look forward to continuing merchant rollouts throughout 2011 in the region”.

Dermot O’Shea, Managing Director FEXCO Merchant Services, continued “For FEXCO, this is another significant step in expanding our global reach and unlocking new value for acquirers and their merchants. Earlier this year we extended our commitment to the region when FEXCO opened an office in Dubai which is headed by John Kiely to provide on-the-ground support to our partners in the region.”

Dick Spring, Non Executive Vice Chairman of FEXCO and former Deputy Prime Minister of Ireland, speaking at the launch remarked “Seeing our DCC service in operation with Dubai Duty Free and Network International fulfils a long-held ambition to launch services in the UAE, and this single deployment makes our service available to more than 40 million customers annually.”
Mr. Spring went on to conclude that “Our investment in strategic partnerships in the UAE reaffirms our sincere belief that Dubai has a tremendous future as a global centre for tourism and travel.”

About FEXCO Merchant Services

With over 170 employees in Europe, Middle East, United States, South America, China, Asia and Australia, FEXCO Merchant Services is a global leader in the provision of Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC), credit card transactions processing, multi-currency pricing, global treasury solutions, gift and pre-paid spending solutions, bureau de change, and consumer tax solutions.

FEXCO Merchant Services currently provides its solutions to over 30,000 merchants globally in conjunction with over 27 acquiring banks. The DCC provider of choice to merchants from all sectors, FEXCO Merchant Services processes over US$10 billion in DCC transactions annually, generating $10’s of millions in profits for its customers. FEXCO Merchant Services is part of FEXCO Group.

About Dubai Duty Free

Dubai Duty Free opened for business at Dubai International Airport in December, 1983 and from that time has grown to be the single largest airport retailer in the world in terms of turnover, which in 2010 is expected to reach US$1.25 billion. Employing over 4,000 staff, the operation is headed by Managing Director and Irishman, Colm McLoughlin. Operating a retail area of some 15,000 square metres, Dubai Duty Free is a 24 hour, 7 day a week business which offers international travellers a first class range of products and services in a hugely shopper-friendly environment.

The retail operation is committed to promoting the city of Dubai through a series of high-level sponsorships and marketing activities and it world-famous promotions, such as the Finest Surprise Luxury Car Draw, and the Millennium Millionaire Draw, continue to attract media attention.

About Network International

Established in 1994, Network International LLC is the largest acquirer and one of the leading payment solutions providers in Region geared to meet the needs of Banks, Financial institutions, and large and individual retailers. It is a Principal Member of Visa International and MasterCard International for the UAE offering customers the most comprehensive range of payment products and services in the Gulf and MENA region for both the Issuing and Acquiring segment of the card payment industry. Offerings include credit and debit card processing services, ATM management and monitoring, merchant acquiring plus consumer finance applications. Network International provides consultancy services ranging from planning and designing, to developing of new card and consumer finance products and services.

Contact:
Johanna Waara
Head of Marketing
FEXCO Merchant Services
Killorglin
Co. Kerry
Ireland
Tel : 353 66-9792147
Fax : 353 66-9792036
Email: jwaara@fexco.com

At the CCMA awards, Bord Gáis Networks and its contact centre partner, FEXCO, took the award for ‘Best Small or Growing Contact or Shared Services Centre’ and with customer satisfaction monitoring partner, W5, took the award for ‘Best Quality Measurement Programme.’

Chief Executive of Bord Gáis, John Mullins, said: “We are delighted to receive these awards in recognition of the superb work done by the staff of Bord Gáis Networks and Bord Gáis Energy and our contact centre and other partners. Our call centres are positioned at the very heart of the organisation with clear objectives to deliver excellent service to our customers while meeting ambitious business objectives in terms of our outbound campaigns. We strive for excellence to ensure our customers are satisfied in their dealings with us, but it is very gratifying to see the standards we reach being recognised as best in class externally.”

Founded in 1981 and headquartered in Killorglin, Co. Kerry, FEXCO is a privately-owned global provider of business, merchant, consumer and international services.

The company employs almost 1,400 people and has offices in Ireland, the UK, Germany, the US, Australia, New Zealand, Dubai, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

ENDS

For further information, please contact:

Barry Ahern, Business Management Communications
Telephone: (01) 4830832 or (087) 6683574
E-mail: barry.ahern@bmcomms.ie

This follows the company’s recent success at the CCA UK (Customer Contact Association) Awards in Edinburgh on 4th November 2009 where Bord Gáis Networks won the overall Excellence Award for ‘Best Customer Experience’ in the UK and Ireland.

At the CCMA awards, Bord Gáis Networks and its contact centre partner, FEXCO, took the award for ‘Best Small or Growing Contact or Shared Services Centre’ and with customer satisfaction monitoring partner, W5, took the award for ‘Best Quality Measurement Programme.’

Chief Executive of Bord Gáis, John Mullins, said: “We are delighted to receive these awards in recognition of the superb work done by the staff of Bord Gáis Networks and Bord Gáis Energy and our contact centre and other partners. Our call centres are positioned at the very heart of the organisation with clear objectives to deliver excellent service to our customers while meeting ambitious business objectives in terms of our outbound campaigns. We strive for excellence to ensure our customers are satisfied in their dealings with us, but it is very gratifying to see the standards we reach being recognised as best in class externally.”