Christmas is the one time of year that everyday life is put on hold while families and friends come together. With that in mind, PayPoint, the UK’s leading payment  collection network, has put together a festive survival guide for consumers, to help ease them through what can sometimes be a difficult financial period. Whether you’re stuck for a last minute Christmas gift, or need to get that TV Licence renewed before the Queen’s speech, PayPoint has it covered.

PayPoint has over 20,000 outlets in the UK and you’re never more than 1 mile from your local retailer in an urban location. 

PayPoint’s Top 10 tips for surviving Christmas:

1. Make sure your gas or electricity doesn’t fail you over the festive period. Pay your utility bills at any one of PayPoint’s 20,000 outlets in convenience stores across the UK – after all, what’s Christmas day without the roast?
2. Nobody wants to miss out on festive films, so PayPoint makes it easy . . . and legal for you to watch them on TV. Pay for your TV licence and even your Virgin Media cable subscription at your local store. You can set up a monthly cash plan to make paying for your TV licence simpler.
3. Keep in touch with family and friends or send a “Happy Christmas” text. PayPoint offers e-vouchers and e-top ups so if you are running low on credit, you can top up your mobile phone in time for Christmas Day at your local PayPoint retailer. PayPoint also offers international calling cards so if home is far away, you can top up your card at one of its outlets.
4. Stuck for a last minute present and dreading the thought of battling through the high street? Gift cards are an ideal solution but did you know that your local convenience store stocks a great range? PayPoint offers a number of gift cards from Debenhams, Ticketmaster, Argos and Red Letter Days so we’re sure there will be something for everyone.
5. Fancy your chances of bagging that perfect Christmas party dress on eBay?
   PayPoint has joined forces with many prepaid card brands including PayPal, Virgin Money, IDT Primecard and Tuxedo, to load up prepaid cards to shop online, helping you stick to a budget and saving you from entering your own bank details online.
6. Watch what you spend. It’s very easy to overspend at Christmas, so write down all of your outgoings and keep hold of receipts. You’ll be able to see exactly if you’ve been wasting money on things that aren’t necessary. Ask yourself if you really need what you are about to buy.
7. Make a shopping list well ahead to plan your trips and bag the best deals, making the most of your budget. Plan your meals day by day so you buy just what you need.
8. Your local convenience store can help you with those last minute essentials – tin foil for the turkey, tins of sweets for family film viewing, bottles of bubbly or boxes of chocolates as emergency standby presents and the all-important candles and matches in case of power cuts.
9. Travelling to visit family? Book your travel tickets early whether it’s for planes or trains! You’ll be able to save the earlier you purchase. For customers traveling regionally, you can purchase bus tickets before you board at PayPoint outlets in selected regions throughout the UK.
10. Planning and sticking to a budget are key to enjoying Christmas without a frightening financial hangover in the New Year.

Peter Brooker, Head of Corporate Affairs at PayPoint, comments: “We all lead busy lifestyles and the run up to Christmas can be particularly hectic, so paying bills or topping up the electricity meter can often fall from our list of things to do after buying all the presents.

“Luckily, PayPoint outlets have extended opening hours and are often open on
Christmas Day, which enables customers to pay their household bills, top up their
mobiles or even buy a last minute gift for friends or family. This means you can just relax and enjoy all the festivities!”

In 2007, more than 2 million transactions were made at PayPoint outlets on Christmas Eve and another 360,000 on Christmas Day itself.

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Enquiries:
PayPoint Press Office
020 7100 9999
paypoint@mischiefpr.com

Notes to Editors
PayPoint is the leading cash and internet payments company in the UK and Ireland.It handles in excess of £8 billion from over 515 million transactions annually for 6,000 clients and merchants. The company operates with several payment networks:

• The PayPoint retail network numbers over 20,750 terminals located in local shops (including Co-op, Spar, Costcutter, Sainsburys Local, One Stop, Londis, Somerfield and thousands of independents) in all parts of the UK and Ireland. Terminals handle 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 all of the leading utilities, telecommunications suppliers and many consumer service companies. This network is used by consumers, free of charge, over 9 million times a week. The network has 98.9% population cover on a 1 mile urban or 5 miles rural measure;
• Additional multiple retailer connections via retailers’ electronic till systems in the UK, including BP and Superdrug, for mobile top-ups and selected payments from the PayPoint range;
• The PayPoint ATM network has 2,150 ‘LINK’ branded machines across the UK, also typically in convenience stores; 
• PayPoint.net provides secure credit and debit card payments for over 5,100 web merchants linking into all the major UK acquiring banks; and
• PayPoint International, which operates bill payment and top-up services in Ireland and Romania. PayStore in Romania now has 4,700 terminal outlets including 1,200 PayPoint branded sites for the new bill payment service.
  

PayPoint plc (PAY:LSE) floated on the London Stock Exchange in September 2004. PayPoint is widely recognised for its leadership in prepayment systems, smart technology and consumer service.