First Atlantic Commerce (FAC) has grown from a one-man operation based in Bermuda to a truly global business serving clients across the world in the space of 13 years.The international online payment, and fraud and data management solutions provider, delivers multi-currency, payment processing and risk management solutions for internet merchants and acquiring banks around the globe.The firm has come a long way since its inception, having started out life at CCS’s offices in Par-la-Ville Road and a couple of moves later eventually establishing themselves at Thistle House in Burnaby Street with 16 staff and two external consultants on the payroll today.And just last month FAC announced the appointment of its first Bermudian CEO Christopher Burns and chief operating officer Ronnie Viera, with the new management team being set up in line with the company’s vision to expand its presence into more emerging markets and continue to provide leading online payment solutions to merchants and banks.Mr Burns, who graduated with a BA Hons in Business and Management, worked for an IT headhunting company in the UK straight out of university for five years, before by his own admission the British weather got the better of him and he decided to return to Bermuda.Having lined up a number of interviews for potential jobs, he thought that FAC’s offer was the most interesting and joined the company seven years ago as a sales manager before working his way up the ranks to the top job.Mr Viera started out in computer operations at Butterfield Bank and moved through the IT department to the position of senior manager, in which he was responsible for systems development and support, prior to joining the Argus Group, where he was head of IT for three years.Having been lured into the world of e-commerce with FAC in February 2000, only a few months before the dotcom bubble burst, in late 2004/2005 he moved to Capital G, both companies of which are owned by the Gibbons Group, as chief information officer, prior to rejoining FAC in November 2009 to run the IT operation.The pair’s paths crossed twice during their time at FAC, with Mr Burns’ most recent role as senior vice-president of business development prior to taking over the reins from his predecessor and founder Andrea Wilson following a company restructure, assuming responsibility for the firm’s strategic direction and its management on a global basis.Among the biggest challenges facing him going forward, he said was the economy, despite seeing growth in new customers and revenue, and the company’s competitors in North America and mainland Europe, in making sure that it is at least keeping pace with technology and continues to provide the best products and services to its existing client base.More recently FAC has switched its focus to the growing markets of the Caribbean, South America, the Middle East, Asia and Africa, many of which have been overlooked by the bigger players and which expect the same level of technology and service as in the developed nations.Beginning essentially as a credit card payment gateway enabling merchants to sell their goods and wares and take payments electronically, the company has expanded its range of services to offering more options outside of the standard MasterCard, Visa and American Express payments to allow people in countries such as Mexico where 80 percent of the population doesn’t have a credit card, to make purchases online.“Originally we were more of a straightforward technology company,” said Mr Burns.“But now we have established ourselves as a global solutions provider and have been adding banking partners throughout the world.“Now we have to figure out how to provide better and alternative payment solutions as the world begins to open up and become more connected.”FAC joined forces with online cash payment solution Ukash two years ago to provide its customers with alternative payment options in Europe and emerging online consumer markets from Russia to Brazil.The service enabled FAC’s merchants in the Latin American Caribbean Region, the UK and Europe to accept risk-free cash payments on their website, giving them access to new consumer markets, and allowed consumers to buy securely, anonymously and privately online.“It is actually a pretty exciting time to be involved in the payment space because a lot of the technology is based around that sector,” said Mr Burns.“We are seeing a number of new developments spring up including MasterCard’s PayPass and PayPal.”Mr Viera said that one of the steepest tasks had been just making people aware of FAC and what it has to offer and it relied on making the most of its resources and developing its partnerships to get its message out there.“We can’t compete with some of the much larger players in our space on price and volume, but where we do compete and get positive feedback is on the customer service side,” he said.“Our merchants hear from us on a regular basis and if our clients call us they know they are dealing with a person and not an automated call centre.”Indeed the company, which prides itself in being the only local PCI DCS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) certified Payment Gateway in Bermuda, has helped its on-Island clients reach an international audience one of the most recent of which was Bermydeals, which won the Local Innovation of the Year award at this year’s Tech Awards.FAC also offers a number of other services such as helping financial institutions to become certified in 3D Secure a fraud mitigation technology.For more information contact Christopher Burns at 294-4622 or email cburns[AT]fac.bm