Colombia: Gtech seeks to expand the business of its terminal network

More than two years ago, the games of chance multinational Gtech considered the possibility to close its operations in Colombia, due to the stagnation its incomes and the negative of the government to develop new games to complement Baloto offer.

However, in 2007, the administration in the country made a new bet: to come out of the original business format of Gtech and bring it an additional value, transforming its network of terminals in a channel of commercial services, that will mainly reach the market of people that do not have access to the banking sector, to provide services of non-banking correspondent, collection, payment of invoices from public services, micro-credits, sale of minutes and recarga of cell-phones, among others.

This way, it took advantage of a network of 6,000 terminals belonging to Gtech, which sold only Baloto so far, and other games, as chance and online lotteries.

This business allowed the company, in less than three years, to become the salvation table of Gtech operation in Colombia. For 2009, it represented the 50.1% of the net income of the company –more than us$ 15,691, and the other part for games of chance, with us$ 15,640.

"Last year, we achieved to reach a consolidated break even point thanks to the operation of commercial services. Without it, Gtech in Colombia would have disappeared", warns Álvaro Gómez, president of the company.

The agressive strategy of seeking for new business turned Vía network –a brand that commercializes games of chance and commercial services- in a great highway of services.

Its first great initiative was to become the corresponding banking of Citibank, attending a operation of payments of credits and cards, deposits, agreements of collection and consignment. Until December 2009, Vía network made 9 million transactions with the Citi for more than us$ 611,340.

In 2009, the total of transactions in this network –including payments of public services and City operation- was of 12 million. "For this year, the goal is to achieve 20 million transactions. As a great highway, it is not conceived with exclusiveness. The margins of each transaction are so small that our operation is based in moving millions of transactions for it to be feasible. It is a massive operation,” said Gómez.

The evolution of the business has allowed to reach different sectors, as collections for  catalog sales, online payment of tolls, payment of insurances and even air tickets. "In our strategy, we sep to expand channels that allow to reach new meeting points with the customers and facilitate the purchase of the product,” said a spokesman of Aires, one of the two airlines –together with Easyfly- that sells its tickets through Vía.

This transformation opened the eyes of Gtech Internacional, which has the 59% of the worldwide lottery market and more than 450,000 terminals worldwide, on new business opportunities. In the last two years, representatives of the firm in England, Chile, China, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica and Argentina visited Colombia to replicate a model that was born in the country and now is exportation type.