PayPoint plc: Don't Get Cut Off By The Postal Strike

Oct 20, 2009 (M2 PRESSWIRE via COMTEX) -- PYPTF | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- With the likelihood of this week's postal strike being repeated in the following weeks and undelivered letters piling up at sorting offices all over Britain, it is not a good idea to send payment for electricity, gas, water or even council tax bills in the post. Utility companies and councils are unlikely to take too kindly to "the cheque's in the post" and people risk being cut off for non-payment.

However, there is a simple, convenient - and free - alternative. Millions of people already pay their utility bills at the 22,000 PayPoint stores around the country. No special arrangements need to be made in advance to pay utility bills in cash at a PayPoint - shoppers simply present their paper bill and the retailer will scan the barcode, take the payment and give a receipt as proof of payment. As community stores typically have long opening hours, the bill can be paid at a time convenient to you.

Cash bill payment at community stores in Britain has been available since 1996 but never before has the breadth of payment options been so wide. With over 1,000 different payment options available on PayPoint, the UK's leading cash and internet payments company, all gas and electricity companies, many local councils and housing associations are covered.

Peter Brooker, head of corporate affairs at PayPoint, said:

"While postal strikes across the country have been causing chaos for businesses and consumers, this week's national strikes will make the situation far worse and could lead to thousands of people being out-of-pocket and even having their utilities cut off if their payment cheques never arrive.

We hope that by highlighting bill payment as an option at community stores, we can make people's lives easier. While millions of us use our local community stores every day, many are not aware of the broad range of services available. In fact, bill payments are just the tip of the iceberg, with saving schemes, parcel delivery, money transfer and cash t payments for internet purchases all now available in many community stores." To find the nearest PayPoint community store go to: http://www.paypoint.co.uk/locator.aspx - ends -

NOTES TO EDITORS

About PayPoint plc

PayPoint is the leading cash and internet payments company in the UK with operations also in Ireland and Romania. It handles nearly GBP9 billion from over 540 million transactions annually for more than 6,000 clients and merchants. The company operates several payment networks:

* The PayPoint branded retail network numbers nearly 22,000 terminals located in local shops (including Co-op, Spar, McColls, Costcutter, Sainsbury's Local, One Stop, Londis and thousands of independents) in all parts of the UK and Ireland. Its terminals process gas and electricity meter prepayments, cash bill payments, mobile phone top-ups, transport tickets, London Congestion Charges, BBC TV licences and a wide variety of other payment types for most leading utilities, telecommunications suppliers and many consumer service companies

* An ATM network which has over 2,000 'LINK' branded machines across the UK, typically in convenience stores;

* PayPoint.net, an internet payment service provider, delivers secure online credit and debit card payments for over 5,000 web merchants linking into all major UK acquiring banks; and

* Pay Store SRL, trading as PayPoint Romania, a mobile top-up operator with over 5,700 outlets equipped with electronic terminals. A bill payment service has been added to increase the breadth of PayPoint's offering in Romania, emulating the

* UK branded retail network.

* Collect+ a joint venture with Home Delivery Network Limited to provide a parcel collection and drop off service at its retailers.

PayPoint floated on the London Stock Exchange in September 2004 and the company's market capitalisation at 13 August 2009 was GBP362 million. PayPoint is widely recognised for its leadership in prepayment systems, smart technology and consumer service.

CONTACT: PayPoint plc WWW: http://www.paypoint.co.uk Tom Nutt / Charlotte Pusey, The Communication Group plc Tel: +44 (0)20 7630 1411 Tel: +44 (0)77 7568 6706 e-mail: Tnutt@thecommunicationgroup.co.uk

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