REVENUES AT online payment company Realex Payments grew by 28 per cent to €9.8 million during the year ended April 2012 as the company more than doubled its customer base during the year.

However, the company made a loss of €233,000 during the year, mainly due to its investment in subsidiary company Carapay, and investments in its offices in Dublin, London and Paris, including its move from Monkstown in south Co Dublin into a city-centre premises at Sir John Rogerson’s Quay during the year.

Realex’s customer base increased to 8,360 during the year, up from 3,550 the previous year.

The sharp boost was driven in part by a jump in the number of small and medium-sized businesses signing up with Realex in a bid to enhance their online sales presence. About 200 SMEs signed up with Realex per month last year. The company also won a number of high-profile contracts with such businesses as Paddy Power, Hostel Bookers and 7 Day Shop, as well as the contract to operate acceptance of the household charge payment for the government.

Significant international contract wins during the year included HSBC’s merchant services, a subsidiary of Global Payments, and one of the largest independent payment processors in the UK.

The six-year contract will see Realex provide services to the bank’s UK online retailer base, from its Dublin office.

Other Realex clients include Virgin Atlantic and Aer Lingus.

Founded in 2000 by former Ulster Bank employee Colm Lyon, Realex is headquartered in Dublin, and has offices in Paris and London. It employs 115 people.

Realex, which provides businesses with services that allow them to process payments online, now processes about €1.5 billion worth of transactions each month on behalf of its clients.

Earlier this year, the company suffered a major break in its service that left its customers without payment facilities for several hours.

At the time, the company described the break, which was attributable to a hardware problem, as the worst incident in its history.