The online trade in Switzerland recovered in 2023: After the market volume plummeted in 2022, it rose again last year to 14.4 billion francs. This is shown by the total market survey, which was conducted by Handelsverband.swiss together with GfK Switzerland and in collaboration with the Swiss Post. Compared to the previous year, this represents an increase of three percent.

Regarding this development, Payrexx, the innovative provider of payment services from Thun, is pleased to announce exceptional growth for the year 2023: The entire Payrexx family achieved a significant increase of about 42 percent in transaction volume, amounting to around 610 million francs compared to the previous year. In 2022, the volume was approximately 430 million francs. Ivan Schmid, founder and CEO of Payrexx, is delighted:

“With every step, we come closer to our vision. The goal of Payrexx is to rise to the top provider of payment solutions in Switzerland and to support SMEs with our innovative, seamless payment systems on their path to success."

Perhaps the most important tool for this is “Payrexx Swiss Collecting”, the package which offers the more than 50,000 satisfied Commerçants all important payment methods, with just one contract, completely from one source. The already very broad range of payment methods – including TWINT, PostFinance, Mastercard, Visa, Amex, Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, Alipay, WeChat Pay and many others – could be further expanded last year. For example, Reka, Google Pay, Centi, TWINT “pay later,” and Heidipay were won as partners and included in the offer.

Important milestones in 2023

The most defining and important success came for Payrexx in 2023 from the annual online retailer survey, which is conducted by the Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW) and the Management Center Innsbruck (MCI). In this survey, the company was voted the most popular payment provider for Swiss SMEs by the nearly 600 participating online shops – ahead of PayPal, PostFinance, and Saferpay.

Another significant step for the start-up from Thun was the launch into the Series A financing round: Previously, the funds came from the company’s organic growth and contributions from existing private investors. In December, Payrexx received an additional investment of 2.5 million francs from a consortium of Icelandic investors familiar with the payment industry.

Growth remains the focus of the regional payment provider. Accordingly, Payrexx is pleased about more than 17,000 new registered customers, primarily from Switzerland, Germany, Austria, and Liechtenstein. Of these, 7,000 joined directly via Payrexx, and 10,000 through the unique platform solution “Payrexx for Platforms” in Switzerland. In total, the regionally rooted payment provider was able to gain 25 such platform merchants in 2023.

And finally, the Payrexx team itself grew: Nine new employees were welcomed and trained. As a result, a total of 32 people are now working for the Swiss technology start-up. The average age is almost exactly 30 years – a particularly young and innovative team!

Three growth targets for the future

For the coming business year, Payrexx is focusing on three growth projects. First, “Payrexx QR Pay”, the tool already launched for payment using QR code, is to be further advanced and marketed. Here, too, the team was able to experience an initial success: Payrexx QR Pay was awarded the Innovation Prize 2023 by the Berner Oberland Economy in January 2024.

Secondly, Payrexx wants to become an omnichannel provider and thus focus more on the transition from pure online trade to in-person payment. Planned are the development and distribution of a SoftPOS app, as well as POS terminals for processing transactions in stores and businesses.

Thirdly, Payrexx is working on implementing an e-commerce instant payment method. With this, transactions could be made in real time in the future, and the merchants would no longer have to wait for their money. In this way, Payrexx wants to further facilitate everyday life for Swiss SMEs – and come a step closer to its vision.