Sascha Winkler, CEO of Frankfurt based Pay4 GmbH, is known as one of the most respected and sought-after authorities within the payments space. Winkler has been in the biz for more than 12 years, bringing great wisdom, knowledge and innovation to an industry that is highly dynamic and ever-changing.
XBIZ World caught up with Winkler to discuss Pay4 and the company’s new mobile payment app, qooqo.
We are privately held, and we make decisions without having tons of meetings. All departments are lead by business veterans.
XBIZ: How did you get into the adult processing business?
WINKLER: I’ve been in the mobile business for more than a decade, starting off with value-added services such as ringtones, wallpapers, etc. One day an adult company sent an inquiry for an adult SMS chat service. Nobody wanted to touch this business. But I found it interesting, met the merchant and understood the business model. A few months later I processed with this merchant hundreds of thousands of SMS transactions. And nowadays —as back in the day —if you do an honest job and you know how it works, you will be recommended to the right people. Today, 12 years later, I’ve lead Pay4 to the No. 1 alternative payment company.
XBIZ: What makes Pay4 an innovative payment solution?
WINKLER: We are privately held, and we make decisions without having tons of meetings. All departments are lead by business veterans. And last not least, we do not deal with things we do not know. Alternative payments like SEPA direct debit, online bank transfers and mobile wallets are our focus.
XBIZ: Where is most of your business coming from?
WINKLER: Pay4 is strong in adult, gaming and dating. We also offer services into the retail space such as our Pay4 SEPA transaction service.
XBIZ: Pay4 this year announced a new mobile payment solution called qooqo. How does it work?
WINKLER: We are really glad to be the first payment transaction provider offering the mobile wallet qooqo.
qooqo is a mobile payment app that can be downloaded for iOS, Windows and Android at the respective app store. Once the free app is downloaded and the user registers, qooqo can be used everwhere where the round QR code is shown — online, offline as well as mobile.
During the registration the user has to include his favorite payment option, like a SEPA direct debit or credit card, and choose a four-digit payment PIN that is neccessary to execute a payment with.
The payment process itself is comfortable, easy and fast.
An offline-shown QR code, for example at the point of sale or online at programs checkout page, has to be scanned with qooqo’s app reader. A user surfing with his mobile device just has to click the round QR code.
After the QR code is read, payment and purchase infos will be shown on users’ cellphones at qooqos app.
Just make the payment with the four-digit PIN and the payment is completed. In addition, you can see the communication between payment page and qooqo app (shows the status of the transaction) online. It is as easy as this!
XBIZ: Does Pay4 have any new projects or offerings coming up?
WINKLER: We do have several companies working on several project sin our group. We are privately held and run the company with an amount of employees that allows us to be very flexible. That way we can try new trends.
XBIZ: What sector of the online adult business is driving the market these days?
WINKLER: Live cams and dating.
XBIZ: What’s a typical work day like?
WINKLER: Every day starts with a handshake at every employees’ desk. I do like to know how they feel, what they are working on and if there are issues we have to take care of. The team is the one what companies success is built on. For me it is very important, to take care of a comfortable culture within my team. The rest of the day is dominated with phone calls (I still love to do sales), emails and meetings.
XBIZ: When not thinking about the biz, what do you like to do?
WINKLER: Spending time with my family. As our business is nowadays 365/24, I try to save free time for my family and I like to enjoy hobbyies such as traveling, music, networking, good food and wine around my family.
