When Data Age Business Systems was created during the dot-com era in 1988, there was hopes it would eventually catapult to help collateral loan companies with their point-of-sales system.
More than 30 years later, the company has weathered the dot-com bubble bust, the Great Recession and now, the coronavirus pandemic.
And it's thriving.
"We've been really, really busy," Len Summa, CEO of Data Age Business Systems, said. "Our core industry we supply — those in the collateral loan space, i.e. pawn shops — are considered an essential business. In our industry, the PoS platform has been widely known as a must-have. But I think the enlightenment the crisis has brought, has been the ability to connect with customers."
The platform, which consolidates a company's point-of-sales system, also has text message, SMS, email and e-commerce abilities that have become crucial as would-be customers are forced to stay home.
"There's still a large portion of business people in our industry that do transactions with pen to pad, the old fashioned way," Summa said. "So we're seeing a tremendous uptick from being prehistoric to somewhat modern."
The company is located within 30 countries with 65 employees. The large presence, Summa said, has helped with new customer conversion in a time of uncertainty.
"This is one of those situations where bigger is better," he said. "When someone calls, the lights are on and someone's home. We're getting a lot of conversion and then being able to add to the system with (the texting capabilities), those are the growth opportunities."
He predicts in the next 18-24 months the company will "ramp up" its staff.
"Things have been very good and I don't see it changing it any time soon," he said. "There are 40 to 50 million americas that just can't get a loan. The pawn shop is a vital business and that's why they're essential during this time."
