Transaction volume of the british group PayPoint, which facilitate the cash and online  payments, increased  with 22% in the financial year ended at 30 march, with ₤503 million, included in the total are ₤19 million, international bill and general payments and mobile top-ups for Romania and Ireland.

PayPoint acquired, on May 2007, one of the largest independent mobile top-up providers in Romania, the Pay Store company from the RTC group, held by businessman Octavian Radu,  for £10.3 million. 

PayPoint services allow cash and card payments at a POS (Point of Sale) for utility bills or electronic recharge for debit cards or for mobile telephony.
“ The acquisition of Pay Store in Romania is the first step of our international strategy and the launch plans for our Romanian bill payment service are well advanced. There remain further opportunities for future growth through market share gains, new initiatives and new products.”, said David Newlands.

The revenues increased with 35%, at £212 million from £157 million on previous financial year, driven, by others, by a increase in transaction volumes and the increase in revenue from the sale of mobile top-ups in Ireland and Romania.

Cost of sales was £156 million (2007: £111 million), an increase of 40%. The cost of mobile top-ups in Ireland and Romania has risen to £55 million (2007: £21m), which drives the disproportionate increase in cost of sales compared to revenue.

Terminals in Romania have increased by 756 since acquisition as the company started to build the infrastructure for a national bill payment network. PayPoint plans to install another 1,500 PayPoint terminals this year in Romania. These will complement the existing terminal base and provide initial coverage for a national bill payment network, is shown in the press release.

Pay Store, is a Romanian mobile top-up operator with over 4,000 outlets equipped with electronic terminals and 2,000 other retail outlets. A bill payment service has been added to increase the breadth of PayPoint’s offering in Romania, in line with the UK branded retail network.

The company has traded at a small loss as expected. PayPoint  has invested in strengthening the management team, switched the processing from a local provider to the processing centre in Welwyn Garden City, built a new sales team, upgraded systems and others. Nearly all of Romanians pay their bills in cash and are poorly served by existing payment channels. PayPoint expected further investment as their expand of the network in Romania beyond the original plans. Pay Store is well placed to benefit from the migration of paper scratch cards to electronic top-ups and following the launch of bill payments, to capture a significant share of the bill payment market.

PayPoint floated on the London Stock Exchange in September 2004 and the company’s market capitalisation at 30 March 2008 was £380 million. PayPoint is widely recognised for its leadership in prepayment systems, smart technology and consumer service.

PayPoint is the leading cash and internet payments company in the UK also with operations in Ireland, handling transactions for more than 5,000 clients and merchants  on  over 19.800 retail outlets.