IT’S about to get easier to buy your bus tickets as First Cymru, the region’s biggest operator, has joined forces with PayPoint, the local network of high street retailers, to enable customers to buy bus tickets over the counter at more than 350 outlets in the region. From 31 May 2010 people will be able to get FirstMonth, and in some cases FirstWeek, tickets from their local shop at the same time as picking up a loaf of bread or pint of milk, or topping up their gas or electricity.

The move means that people will be able to buy their bus travel in advance at their own convenience. It will encourage more people to buy their tickets off the bus, which in turn may speedup boarding times, and it will mean even more people will be able to take advantage of the cheaper deals on bus travel that are available to those who buy multi-journey tickets in advance.

A FirstMonth ticket offering unlimited bus travel for 31 days across the whole of South and West Wales costs just £60, equivalent to just £1.94 a day; a saving on the £5.75 FirstDay ticket covering the same area, or the standard walk on cash fare.

Talking about the new payment method, Tony McNiff, Managing Director of First Cymru, says: “We’re always on the lookout for ways to improve our services for our customers so when they told us they wanted an easier and more convenient way to buy their tickets in advance of travel, we identified PayPoint as the perfect solution. Under this new arrangement, customers will be able to buy their monthly bus tickets while at the local newsagent, garage, supermarket or convenience store – many of which are open long hours and often seven days a week.

“Many customers already enjoy the convenience of paying utility bills, telephone charges, rents and council tax using PayPoint, so the facility to buy their bus ticket fits perfectly.

“Obtaining tickets in advance helps speed up boarding time at the bus stop, enabling us to improve reliability and punctuality, and it also removes the need for customers to carry lots of change with them.”

Michelle Stanbrough, Transport Sector Manager at PayPoint, adds: “We are delighted to be partnering with First Cymru so that bus users in Wales are now able to ease their journeys by purchasing their bus tickets in advance of travel, within more convenient locations, even while they do their shopping.”

FirstMonth and FirstWeek tickets will still be available to buy on the bus from the driver, and they can also be bought online from www.firstgroup.com/etickets.

PayPoint is the UK’s leading branded retail network for the convenient local payment of household bills, mobile top-ups and now, bus tickets. First Cymru customers will be able to buy or renew their four-weekly bus tickets at any of around 350 PayPoint outlets across South and West Wales. Their locations can be found at http://www.paypoint.co.uk/locator.aspx. FirstWeek tickets will also be available at some of the PayPoint outlets in Swansea.

For more information about First Cymru, or to view timetable information, log onto: www.firstgroup.com/cymru.

<ends>

NOTES TO EDITORS:

• For more information contact: Karen Baxter, PR Manager (South West & Wales), First UK Bus, on 0117 373 6470 / 07894 785155 or email: Karen.Baxter@firstgroup.com.
• First in Cymru carries around 21 million passengers a year on a network of routes in South & West Wales, serving Bridgend, Maesteg, Port Talbot, Neath, Swansea, Llanelli, Carmarthen and South Pembrokeshire including Haverfordwest. Generally, routes comprise high frequency urban and interurban bus services using modern easy access buses. These are complemented by high quality interurban 'Excel' services and the popular fast Swansea to Cardiff 'Shuttle100' coach service. The company employs almost 1000 staff and has a fleet of around 350 vehicles. For more information see: www.firstgroup.co.uk/ukbus
• FirstGroup plc is the leading transport operator in the UK and North America with annualised revenues of over £6 billion a year. It employs more than 130,000 staff and transports some 2.5 billion passengers a year. Website: www.firstgroup.com
• The Group is Britain’s largest bus operator running more than one in five of all local bus services. A fleet of nearly 8,500 buses carries approximately 3 million passengers a day in more than 40 major towns and cities (website: www.firstgroup.com/ukbus) It also operates Greyhound UK providing
  regular services each way between London and Portsmouth and London and Southampton and London and Bournemouth (website:www.greyhounduk.com)

ABOUT PAYPOINT
PayPoint is a leading specialist payments company with operations in the UK, Ireland, Romania, France, USA and Canada. It handles over £9.5 billion from over 550 million transactions annually for more than 6,000 clients and merchants.

PayPoint processes consumer payments across a wide variety of markets (energy pre and post-payment, telecoms, housing, water, transport, e-commerce, parking and gaming) through its retail networks, internet and mobile phone channels:

Retail networks
The PayPoint branded retail network in the UK numbers over 22,000 terminals located in local shops (including Co-op, Spar, McColls, Costcutter, Sainsbury’s Local, One Stop, Londis and thousands of independents). Collect+, a joint venture with Yodel, formerly Home Delivery Network Limited, provides a parcel collection and drop off service at more than 3,400 PayPoint retailers. Its ATM network numbers more than 2,300 ‘LINK’ branded machines across the UK, mainly in the same sites as PayPoint terminals.

In Romania, the branded retail network numbers over 4,800 terminals located in local shops, processing cash bill payments for utilities and mobile phone top-ups. In Ireland, over 500 outlets in shops and credit unions process mobile top-ups and bill payments.

Internet
PayPoint.net is an internet payment service provider linking into all major UK acquiring banks to deliver secure online credit and debit card payments for over 5,600 web merchants. It offers a comprehensive set of products ranging from a transaction gateway through to a bureau service and Fraudguard, an advanced service to mitigate the risk of fraud.

PayByPhone
PayByPhone is a leading international provider of services to parking authorities allowing consumers to use their mobile phones to pay for their parking by credit or debit card. It has contracts in the UK, France, Canada and the USA.

PayPoint floated on the London Stock Exchange in September 2004. It is widely recognised for its leadership in prepayment systems, smart technology and consumer service.