New free bill payment service gives consumers more choice and greater convenience
At last, paying household bills, charging up gas and electricity meters and topping up mobile phones has just become easier, quicker and more convenient, thanks to PayPoint, the new bill payment service which officially launches today. Now, customers of the ESB, Bord Gáis, Vodafone, O2, NTL and Intrum Justitia can make their regular payments in cash wherever and whenever it suits them best at over 140 PayPoint terminals in their local convenience stores in Dublin and across the country.
Already serving over 3 million UK customers of 250 utility companies, service providers and local authorities each week, PayPoint has become a tried and tested payment option, allowing customers to pay in the local convenience retailers they like, with long opening hours and completely free of any charges. In a recent MORI poll, 97% of PayPoint users said they were satisfied or very satisfied with the service.
PayPoint has just completed installation of its first 140 of 500 planned outlets and already, ESB customers are making thousands of payments each week. Charles Chapman, General Manager, ESB Customer Supply says, "PayPoint’s reputation and quality of service impressed us greatly. Their arrival in Ireland gives customers the benefit of more flexibility in the times at which they can pay their bills as well as extending the range of places to pay for ESB customers."
Transaction volumes are set to double immediately as Bord Gáis customers begin using the service, initially for pre-payment meter gascards, but also for bill payment early next year. Bord Gáis gascard payments are exclusive to PayPoint’s convenience outlets.
People prefer PayPoint
"It’s just what I need!" says busy working mother Eva O’Rourke from Cavan. "PayPoint’s so convenient because I can pop in to our local shop for an electric token whenever I need one - morning, noon or night. I don’t have to go out of my way, and I can do my other shopping at the same time!"
Business boost for retailers
PayPoint has also become an essential service offering for convenience retailers who recognise its power in bringing more customers, and more business, to their stores. Alan Fitzsimmins, Trading Director of the Henderson Group who operate and supply Spar, VG and Vivo stores across Ireland says, ‘PayPoint is a valuable service to our customers and in most stores will help drive footfall. We have had PayPoint terminals in 35 stores since 1998 so we have had plenty of opportunity to evaluate their impact. The PayPoint service is well received by our customers and we strongly recommend PayPoint as a ‘must have’ service for convenience retailers’.
Six live with PayPoint
PayPoint’s popularity with utilities, service providers and the mobile phone networks in Ireland is spreading fast with six companies signed up and using the service, with more expected to join shortly.
In addition to ESB and Bord Gáis, customers of three telecommunications companies can also now use PayPoint. NTL cable TV and telephony customers are now receiving bar coded bills payable at PayPoint outlets, whilst Vodafone and O2 pre-payment mobile phone users can purchase top-up codes electronically via PayPoint’s on-line authorisation service at any of the stores where they see the distinctive yellow and purple sign. Meteor will, also, go live with PayPoint early next year.
Customers can also make payments to Intrum Justitia using the PayPoint service.
Commenting on the success of PayPoint’s launch in Ireland, Managing Director Dominic Taylor said "We are delighted with the way that PayPoint has been embraced by Irish consumers, retailers and billers. The warm welcome we have received so far indicates that PayPoint will be a very popular service. Customers like the control that they have over when, where and how much they pay."
For more information, please contact:
Sarah Heaney, Park Communications Tel: 01 676 5297 or 087 249 0542,
E-mail: sheaney@parkpr.ie or visit www.paypoint.ie
For further customer information please contact:
NTL: Anna Marie Barry 01 245 8419
O2: Johanna Cassells 01 609 6989
Vodafone: Tara Delaney 01 203 7413
ESB: Margaret Kelleher 01 7026382
Intrum Justitia : Susie Cronin Heneghan PR 01 660 7395
