Rising from Crises to Resilience
How Firemane Navigated the Global Chip Shortage and Strengthened the Future of Payments.
At Firemane, we recently sat down with our founder to reflect on one of the most defining moments in the payments hardware industry. The global chip shortage that disrupted Global Supply Chains, reshaped business strategies, and challenged every player in the payments ecosystem.
So let’s talk about it.
“Famine to Feast” is how Ben Harris aptly described this scenario. Between 2020 and 2023, the global chip shortage sent shockwaves across nearly every sector, and payment hardware suppliers were no exception. What had once been a predictable and well structured supply chain for payment terminals; where devices were ordered, shipped and deployed within weeks, quickly turned into a prolonged logistical challenge. Delivery times stretched from weeks to months, while the cost of critical components soared forcing POS manufacturers, distributors and merchants to rethink their operations. What was once a routine procurement process suddenly became a race against uncertainty, where securing even a limited number of devices required strategy, timing, and flexibility.
As global panic spread, distributors began over ordering to protect their payment device supply lines. Acquirers and banks followed suit, hesitant to cancel purchase orders amid fears of hardware shortages. Many turned to open market purchasing, paying inflated prices to get terminals in hand. By late 2023, as supply chains began to normalize, the entire payment market shifted. Manufacturers who had expanded production to meet record demand suddenly faced a surplus of unsold stock. The industry went from scarcity to oversupply “famine to feast”
Prices plummeted, warehouses filled, and distributors face a wave of financial pressure as cash became trapped in inventory. For years, the POS terminal market had been stable, with predictable refresh cycles, consistent pricing, and steady demand. The chip crises shattered that rhythm, pushing commitments upstream and leaving the ecosystem to untangle a global reset.
"Here at Firemane, we anticipated these challenges early. To be able to support our partners and protect their balance sheets, we introduced consignment models and structured hardware holding programs that provided financial flexibility and reduced risk. In parallel, we launched terminal refurbishment programs to help businesses extend the lifespan of their payment devices, maximise value, and minimize waste, and it worked.”
As we move through 2025, the payment technology landscape has stabilised, but the lessons remain. Businesses have become more strategic about cash flow management, inventory exposure and understanding the difference between upgrading for compliance versus upgrading for commercial necessity.
The takeaway is simple: hardware isn’t software. You cannot code your way out of a supply problem, you have to manage it with foresight, structure, and adaptability.
We can really see that this is exactly what Firemane was built to do: helping partners turn hardware volatility into opportunity and build resilience into every layer of their payment strategy.
Today, as the market continues to evolve, merchants are demanding smarter, faster and more flexible payment solutions. Our latest distribution partnership with Ingenico marks a new chapter for Firemane and for the Benelux payments industry. Together, we’re combining Ingenico’s Android based payment terminals with Firemane’s local market expertise to deliver secure, reliable, and future ready payment experiences to businesses of all sizes.
Because resilience is not just about surviving a crises, it’s about building better systems for the future of payments.
