US market leader in payment solutions establishing development team in Lithuania

Harbortouch, a market leader in point-of-sale (POS) payment solutions, is establishing a product development division in Lithuania. The division, which will be the company’s first outside the US, is expected to employ approximately 60 IT specialists.

“We have chosen Lithuania because of the talented IT specialists available here and the country’s excellent infrastructure,” says Harbortouch’s CEO Jared Isaacman. For Mr. Isaacman, who founded the company when he was 16 years old, the presence of other major players from the US IT sector also gave Lithuania an advantage. “The success of other innovative US companies such as Uber in the development of integrated systems in Lithuania has convinced us that we must establish here,” he comments.

When choosing a location for the new division, the company considered other countries in the CEE region such as Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Hungary and Romania, before opting for Lithuania.

In addition to touch-screen POS solutions, Harbortouch also processes payments through electronic cash registers and credit card terminals. The company’s payment processing services enable payments with credit, debit, gift and loyalty cards. Harbortouch has received numerous international awards for its technology solutions in the field of POS payments.

Established in 1999, the company is now a market leader, servicing approximately 300,000 businesses in the US in its 17 years in business. Annually, approximately €10.5 billion of payments are made through the Harbortouch system. The company’s revenue in 2015 was roughly €280 million, and its operations have been profitable for over a decade now. The company currently employs around 400 people.

“This project is especially interesting in relation to Lithuania’s growing financial technology cluster,” comments Mantas Katinas, director general of the foreign investment promotion agency Invest Lithuania. “That’s because the system being developed by Harbortouch incorporates hardware solutions, IT development, and big data technology,” Mr Katinas continues. “These are solutions of the future, and the Harbortouch project will certainly contribute to the country’s ability to compete going forward.”

Mindaugas Sinkevičius, Lithuania’s Minister of the Economy, believes a business-friendly environment is helping to attract the likes of Harbortouch to Lithuania. “Lithuania has become the first location for Harbortouch’s operations outside its home market,” says the Minister, “and the number of examples of foreign investors engaged in the development of innovative products is on the rise. This demonstrates that the Lithuanian Government has chosen the right direction in ensuring favourable conditions for the establishment of not only local businesses but also leading foreign companies,” concludes Mr Sinkevičius.

Jared Isaacman is a three-time finalist of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and is also a co-founder and CEO of Draken International, a contract air services provider. An avid pilot, in 2009 he broke the world record for the fastest speed around the world in a light jet.