Latest partnership strengthens PayPoint’s client portfolio and brings another 30,000 potential users
Bucharest, December 16 2009 – PayPoint Romania, one of the leading cash payment operators in Romania, has announced that it has signed a new contract with Congaz, the only supplier and distributor of natural gas in Constanta county.
Congaz customers will benefit from the cash bill payment services offered by PayPoint Romania through its network of terminals in neighbourhood stores in Constanta, Ovidiu, Navodari, Mihail Kogalniceanu, Medgidia, Cumpana and Negru Voda. The PayPoint service can also be used by Congaz customers who live in other parts of the country, but have a property using Congaz products in these cities.
“Our partnership with Congaz is part of our strategy to strengthen our position in Constanta county, improve our national coverage and to offer increasing numbers of users access to an added-value, free-of-charge service, which saves time and helps them avoid lengthy queuing. It also means that over 90% of bills for natural gas consumption can now be paid via PayPoint terminals,” said Mugur Dogariu, Managing Director, PayPoint Romania.
Payments for the main suppliers of natural gas in Romania, GDF Suez Energy Romania and EON Gaz Romania, as well as many smaller, regional gas suppliers across the country, can already be made at PayPoint
“We are very pleased that, by signing this partnership with PayPoint, our customers will be able to pay their bills easier and faster at any store with a PayPoint branded terminal,” said Oprea Augustin, General Director, Congaz.
In Romania, PayPoint’s 29 clients cover all major segments of the bill payment market, from utilities to financial services providers, as well as mobile telecoms companies.
“Despite the economic downturn, we succeed in delivering first half operating profits ahead of market expectations, reporting net revenues up 12% against the same period last year. We also streamlined our activities by reducing the distribution of low margin pre-pay recharge cards in favour of those with electronic loading,” added Mugur Dogariu.
In the first half of the year, April to September 2009, PayPoint processed 1.8 million bill payment transactions in Romania, having only launched the service in the second half of the previous year.
The PayPoint bill payment network rose to 2,260 terminals in the six months to September 2009, all of which take both bill payments and electronic recharge services for mobile, fixed and TV communications. The company plans to increase the network by another 700 outlets by the end of March 2010.
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Notes to Editors
ABOUT PAYPOINT
PayPoint is the leading cash and internet payments company in the UK, with operations also in Ireland and Romania. It handles over £9.3billion from almost 550 million transactions annually for more than 6,000 clients and merchants. The company operates several businesses:
• The PayPoint branded retail network numbers over 22,600 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. The terminals process gas and electricity meter prepayments, cash bill payments, mobile phone top-ups, transport tickets, 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 2,300 ‘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 5,200 web merchants, linking into all major UK acquiring banks;
• PayPoint Romania, a branded national retail network of over 2,260 terminals located in local shops which process cash bill payments for all the major utilities and mobile top-ups and a further 3,500 terminals that process mobile top-ups only; and
• Collect+, a joint venture with Home Delivery Network Limited, provides a parcel collection and drop off service at PayPoint retailers.
PayPoint floated on the London Stock Exchange in September 2004 and the company’s market capitalisation at 27 September was £318 million. PayPoint is widely recognised for its leadership in prepayment systems, smart technology and consumer service.
