22-year-old Fifer targets £2m sales for card payments firm

A young Fife businessman who set up his company during the pandemic says he plans to revolutionise the card payments industry.

Simplypay is a card payments provider and registered independent sales organisation and member service provider with Visa and Mastercard.

It was launched by 22-year-old Louis King, from Kirkcaldy, in 2020 to help businesses navigate payments during the Covid-19 pandemic.

It provides card payment terminals, EPOS systems and e-commerce solutions to its customers.

Starting Fife tech firm in lockdown

The Fife card payments firm has opened a new office in Broomhead Drive in Dunfermline, relocating from Lochgelly.

Mr King said: “It was in 2020 when lockdown hit and businesses were being unfairly treated by the mainstream banks that I decided it was time for change.

“I didn’t come into the industry for the status quo.”

The 22-year-old said starting the business during the pandemic was tough.

“It was very challenging,” he said. “It’s about resilience, especially in business.”

“The wheels didn’t really start turning until last year because businesses were coming out of lockdown and they didn’t want to invest in any technology.

“Retail owners were reluctant to switch and hospitality owners said they weren’t open so they didn’t see the point.

“It kicked off last year and we rebranded in February this year. Things have taken off since then.”

He said the new offices will give Simplypay room to grow.

Plans for £2m turnover and 15 staff

Mr King’s own journey saw him leave school at 15 before studying at Fife College.

He then took jobs in retail, which saw him become “fascinated” by card payments.

The firm is in the process of building its own fintech platforms that will link directly to banks and its own apps for its payment devices.

Moving offices created six jobs, and Mr King wants to take on a further 10 staff by next summer.

He also hopes Simplypay will be turning over £2 million within two years.

“We’re just getting started,” Mr King said.

“We probably could’ve done some things better, but we also could’ve done things an awful lot worse.

“Moving forward, we’re hoping to turn over £1.2m by August when we hit that headcount of 15.

“I’m also hoping to bring in some experienced managers and directors to take the weight off my shoulders a bit.”