PayPoint is to introduce a monthly charge for the familiar yellow terminal in a bid to encourage take-up of its next-generation PayPoint One system.
From June 1, all users of the established terminal will be charged £10 a month, which compares to £10 per week for users of PayPoint One. There will be no additional charge for retailers who have PayPoint functionality integrated within their symbol group’s epos system.
The company says the move is part of a programme to update old technology across the estate and that any retailer who does not wish the pay the charge will have the option of leaving the network and being released from their contract without penalty. In due course the old yellow terminal boxes will be withdrawn altogether, although there is no set timetable for this yet.
PayPoint commercial director Lewis Alcraft told C-Store: “We are very proud of the yellow boxes, but they are 13 years old now and we wont be able to support them forever. Some of them still use dial-up technology, and they are going to become increasingly inflexible for the services we provide, and increasingly costly to support.
“We understand however that PayPoint One is not right for everyone, and retailers will be able to walk without cost if they feel that it is not what they originally signed up for.”
The PayPoint One system combines the brand’s payment technology with an entry-level epos system. There are currently 3,500 live sites, and later this year PayPoint will roll-out an enhanced ‘Pro’ system using cloud-based back office and better connectivity than the ‘Core’ version currently in use.
“The flexibility of PayPoint One is significant, we definitely think of it as an enabler for retailer,” added Alcraft. “PayPoint in the early days was all about footfall and commission, but now it is about cost-effective access to card services, and epos to make the stores run more efficiently, and that in turn drives benefits to retailers.”
8 Readers' comments