PayPoint, the UK’s leading convenience retail bill payment network is delighted to announce a new exclusive contract with Threshers Group.

The five year agreement with Threshers can enable PayPoint to provide a full range of bill payment services to the entire Threshers 1700 store estate nationwide. Threshers Group incorporates the brands of Threshers, The Local, Wine Rack and Haddows in Scotland.

The PayPoint service is predominately in the Threshers Local branded stores as part of the increased convenience offering.  The PayPoint terminal is currently sited at over 300 stores and there is potential for a complete roll out to all 720 Local stores.

Alun Johnson, Threshers Group’s Operations Director said: 'With over 50% of the UK population being within a 10 minute walk from a Threshers Group store, the further installation of PayPoint terminals into our sites will be a huge benefit to the local communities who shop in our stores. With our expansion plans into the convenience sector, we see PayPoint as the ideal partner to work with.' 

Mike Igoe, PayPoint Retail Director commented: 'We are delighted to be associated with the Threshers Group for the next five years and look forward to furthering the strong trading relationship we have established. Working together with Threshers we will be selecting the best outlets from their well known high street stores to compliment the current PayPoint network.'

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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, handling in excess of £5 billion in over 400 million transactions annually for more than 5,000 clients and merchants. The company operates with several significant payment streams:

• The PayPoint branded retail network numbers over 18,500 terminals located in local shops (including Co-op, Spar, Costcutter, Sainsburys Local, One Stop, Londis 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, London Congestion Charges, 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 7 million times a week. The network has 97.3% population cover on a 1 mile urban or 5 miles rural measure;
• Additional multiple retailer connections into the electronic till systems of nearly 4,000 outlets including BP, Somerfield and Superdrug for mobile top-ups and selected payments from the PayPoint range;
• The PayPoint ATM network has 1,979 'LINK' branded machines across the UK, also typically in convenience stores;
• PayPoint Internet Payment Services (PPIPS), trading as Metacharge and SECPay, provides secure credit and debit card payments for over 4,000 web merchants linking into all the major UK acquiring banks; and
• PayPoint International has recently acquired a Romanian mobile top-up operator to which a bill payment service will be added, emulating the UK branded retail network. PayPoint International also operates Irish bill payment and top-up services.

PayPoint floated on the London Stock Exchange in September 2004. The company's market capitalisation at 19 October 2007 was £397 million. PayPoint has been awarded the Queen's Award for Enterprise and is widely recognised for its leadership in prepayment systems, smart technology and consumer service.