‘Trusted’ relationships will win new business in a downturn

London, 5 June 2009 - Severn Trent, one of the world’s leading suppliers of
water and waste water treatment solutions, has awarded its online payments
business to PayPoint.net. Using PayPoint.net’s services, Severn Trent’s 3.7
million household and business customers can pay their water bills online via
a self-service platform. The proven reliability of its payment platform, the
breadth of functionality and the flexibility of its reporting capabilities were
deciding factors in PayPoint.net’s selection by Severn Trent.

Severn Trent counts ease of reconciliation, improved analysis of data and
real-time visibility on transactions as key business benefits of the PayPoint.net
platform. This capability will save Severn Trent time and money by reducing
investment in internal administration and abetting well-informed decision
making.

PayPoint.net’s real-time reporting tools will also improve Severn Trent’s risk
management processes by allowing an immediate view of all its transactions
– beating the industry standard one day delay – and better equipping Severn
Trent to investigate allegations of fraud. PayPoint.net strengthens its fraud
management capabilities by offering 3D secure (also known as ‘Verified by
Visa” and “SecureCode”) on transactions and the integration of its SECGuard
system, which instantaneously checks each transaction against a range of 30
criteria which have been proven to identify potential fraud, individually or in
combination.

“The key priority for us was to find a reliable payment service, which offered
ease of use for our customers,” commented James Gibson, Customer
Relations Manager at Severn Trent. “PayPoint.net has a 99.95% record for
uptime, which is unrivalled in the market. In a downturn, your internal
processes and customer services need to be second to none. Visibility across
the business, especially finance, is a must, as is making it as convenient as
possible to help people pay.”

Severn Trent has been using parent company, PayPoint plc’s cash collection
and terminal services for 13 years. Customers paying by cash can search for
the nearest PayPoint terminal on the Severn Trent website or at
http://www.paypoint.com/locator.aspx. There are almost 22,000 PayPoint
outlets all over the UK, in newsagents, supermarkets, garages, off licences
and corner shops.

Michael Norton, managing director of PayPoint.net, said, “We’re delighted to
have extended PayPoint’s partnership with Severn Trent into online
payments. Its commitment to customer care and operational excellence is a
perfect fit for PayPoint.net, and key to the success of our relationship. What
differentiates us from the competition is challenging industry norms. For
instance, why should we accept a one day delay in gathering vital payment
intelligence into the business? Benchmarks are there to be broken, especially
in a downturn, when everyone is under pressure to save costs and prove
ROI.”

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For further information, please contact:
Blake Scotland, The Communication Group
Tel: 020 7630 1411
Email: bscotland@thecommunicationgroup.co.uk

About PayPoint.net
PayPoint.net is a leading bank-independent online payment service provider which operates
one of the most comprehensive, secure and reliable payment platforms in the UK. The
product of the merger of specialist providers Metacharge and SECPay, PayPoint.net offers
organisations of every size a fast start to trading online, supported by powerful fraud
management capabilities and leading-edge security features.
PayPoint.net is a wholly owned subsidiary of PayPoint plc, the leading cash and internet
payments company in the UK, with operations in Ireland and Romania. The PayPoint branded
retail network numbers almost 22,000 terminals located in local community shops and is used
primarily for the cash payment of bills and services, plus prepayments for mobile telephones
and energy meters. PayPoint handles nearly £9 billion from over 540 million transactions
annually for more than 6,000 clients and merchants.
For further information please visit www.paypoint.net