If you’re based in the UK, or even if you’ve only visited, I’m sure you’ve heard of PayPoint. They’re the people that let you top up your mobile or pay your utility bills at virtually every corner shop, newsagent and off-licence. Now thanks to a deal with Telrock you can use PayPoint from the comfort of your own mobile.
The Telrock textDebit service enables end users to make secure payments to clients of PayPoint using SMS text messaging. Consumers will pre-register a debit, credit or pre-paid card which can then be used to pay a variety of bills such as energy, telecommunications or water, or top up a prepaid mobile phone.
The partnership will create a new payment channel for PayPoint, complementing its existing over-the-counter cash payments network and internet payments division. It will also offer Telrock an opportunity to work closely with the market leader in handling cash and pre-payments for utility providers and mobile phone operators.
Telrock’s leading mobile payment and customer account servicing platform is already being used by British Gas, Scottish and Southern Energy and Royal Bank of Scotland Group.
Dominic Taylor, Chief Executive of PayPoint, commented: “This partnership with Telrock will enable PayPoint to exploit the increasing popularity of mobile payments while broadening its proposition to existing and new clients and offering customers a further convenient way to pay bills and buy other services.”
Commenting on the deal Russell Robinson, Managing Director of Telrock, said: “The deal provides Telrock with a new route to market, serving a large and growing industry through a popular consumer brand. The agreement acts as a clear endorsement of our services and we look forward to working with this leading cash and internet payments group.”
Just come across this post – amazed nobody’d commented earlier. The technology’s not really anything new (I’ve been forgetting to pay my congestion charge this way for years) but getting leviathans like British Gas onboard is a real accomplishment.