Thames Technology joins Paragon ID

This article is brought to you by Retail Technology Review: Thames Technology joins Paragon ID.

Thames Technology, the European card issuing partner specialising in the design, manufacture, personalisation and distribution of payment and retail card programmes, has announced that the company will join Paragon ID.

As a provider of identification solutions for Transport, e-ID, Track & Trace, Brand Protection and Payment, Paragon ID has chosen to invest in Thames Technology in order to take advantage of the business’ knowhow in smart-card technology across the retail, financial services, Fintech, leisure and tourism and government body sectors.

The move comes as part of Thames Technology’s strategic objective of long-term business growth, and will provide the company with opportunities to further expand their global reach and reputation as part of Paragon ID’s internationally-renowned group. The two companies join at an opportune time, when the applications across their various key sectors are becoming increasingly connected.

As part of the acquisition, Thames Technology will be looking to expand its employment base at their Essex, UK headquarters as its capabilities and offerings increase, where it currently produces more than 250 million cards per year for customers throughout 60 countries, leading to annual revenues in excess of £15million.

Che Colford, Operations Director at Thames Technology, comments: “Everyone here at Thames is very happy and excited to join the Paragon ID group. Our markets are becoming increasingly characterised by the convergence of applications across the domains of Payment, Identity and Transportation and are also becoming increasingly international. Joining an internationally-renowned, industrial group with strong presence in all of these markets makes a lot of sense for Thames and its stakeholders.”

Clem Garvey, CEO of Paragon ID, adds: “The acquisition of Thames Technology represents another step-change in the development of our Company. The acquisition of Thames firmly positions us in the Payment card space, with our own EMV-certified site, while also providing us with manufacturing and personalisation capacity in Britain for smart-cards which can be used across all of our existing business activities. We are delighted to welcome the Thames team to the Paragon ID group and look forward to great success together.”