Planet (formerly known as Fintrax and Premier Tax Free), is a financial services company, specialised in multicurrency payments,

credit card A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the o ...

processing and the management of VAT refunds for tourists. Planet provide their services to overseas visitors, international retail groups, hotels and banks around the world. It is one of largest tax refund providers globally. With global headquarters in Ireland and regional headquarters in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, Planet now operates in 64 markets across 5 continents and employs over 1500 people worldwide.

History

Founded in

Galway Galway ( ; ga, Gaillimh, ) is a city in the West of Ireland, in the province of Connacht, which is the county town of County Galway. It lies on the River Corrib between Lough Corrib and Galway Bay, and is the sixth most populous city on ...

, Ireland in 1985 as Cashback Ltd., Premier Tax Free facilitated VAT refunds for international visitors to Ireland; a service that enables non-resident visitors to reclaim VAT on goods they purchase and privately export, according to EU legislation. Between 1993 and 1999, the business expanded throughout Europe, launching in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and then opening operations in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, Switzerland,

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

. In 2000,

dynamic currency conversion Dynamic currency conversion (DCC) or cardholder preferred currency (CPC) is a process whereby the amount of a credit card transaction is converted at the point of sale, ATM or internet to the currency of the card's country of issue. DCC is ge ...

was launched and further operations opened in Australia and

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. In 2009, the company was presented with a Retail Systems Award for ‘Cards and Payments Solution of the Year’ following a project with British department store House of Fraser. In 2011, Premier Tax Free reportedly increased the Tax Free Shopping transactions by 150% in luxury fashion retailer,

Hugo Boss Hugo Boss AG, often styled as BOSS, is a luxury fashion house headquartered in Metzingen, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The company sells clothing, accessories, footwear, and fragrances. Hugo Boss is one of the largest German clothing companies, ...

, by introducing an automated point of sale solution. In 2012, following further expansions into Uruguay, Greece and Argentina, previous owner and

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...

, Gerard Barry, sold Fintrax Group including Premier Tax Free to

private equity In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a t ...

firm Exponent for €170m. In 2013, Premier Tax Free merged with Tax Free Worldwide. The joint entity provides services to over 150,000 merchants worldwide. In 2015, French investment company

Eurazeo Eurazeo is a French investment company formed by the merger of Azeo and Eurafrance in April 2001. The company is headquartered in Paris. Eurazeo is a leading global investment group, with a diversified portfolio of €25.6 billion in assets und ...

acquired the majority stake in Fintrax from Exponent Private Equity, valuing the company at €550m. In 2017, Fintrax Group acquired Planet Payment, a leading provider of international and multi-currency processing services, for $250 million. It also announced the acquisition of GB TaxFree, the third largest tax refund provider in the UK, for £15 million. In 2018, The company is rebranded Planet. In 2021

Advent International Advent International is a global private equity firm focused on buyouts of companies in Western and Central Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia. The firm focuses on international buyouts, growth and strategic restructuring in five core ...

and

invested in Planet to co-control the company and make it an integrated digital payment champion offering acquiring, processing, digital wallets, VAT refund and currency conversion services to merchants in the Retail, Hospitality, Food & Beverage, Parking and Financial sectors. In 2022 Planet acquired Proximis, Datatrans AG, protel hotelsoftware, Hoist Group. and Avantio, Brent Warrington is appointed as CEO.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Planet website
Financial technology Financial services companies established in 1985 Financial services companies of the Republic of Ireland 1985 establishments in Ireland