Tuxedo Money Solutions, the UK’s leading programme manager in prepaid cards have launched The Times MasterCard® prepaid card and eccount® service with PayPoint, the UK’s leading convenience retail bill payment network. The card will ensure that The Times readers will enjoy safer online shopping, cheaper travel money and general spending options while controlling their money. The product also features up to 15% cashback when shopping at over 1000 online merchants.
The Times card will be advertised through the newspaper and customers can apply by phone or online at www.thetimes.co.uk/prepaidcard. The cost of the card is only £12.00. For launch, the card will also offer £5 cash back on the first load of credit (minimum £12) when the customer buys the card on the phone. Customers buying online will receive £7 cash back.
PayPoint has been chosen as the exclusive electronic top-up partner enabling customers to top-up their Times cards at over 19,000 outlets nationwide. PayPoint retailers will earn a commission on all top-up and load transactions.
Mark Simon, Tuxedo’s CEO said: “We are delighted to be launching our fifth consecutive card programme with PayPoint. Their retail locations are always convenient and top-ups are quick and instant – exactly what our customers want.”
Mike Igoe, PayPoint’s Retail Director commented: “We are delighted to be adding the The Times card to our extensive range of prepaid card schemes available for top-up at PayPoint. With high profile advertising of the card to over 870,000 readers in The Times daily, this is further good news for PayPoint retailers as customers will be visiting our agents to load credit on a regular basis.”
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Enquiries:
PayPoint Press Office
020 7100 9999
paypoint@mischiefpr.com
Notes to Editors
PayPoint is the leading cash and internet payments company in the UK and Ireland, handling in excess of £6 billion in over 470 million transactions annually for more than 5,000 clients and merchants. The company operates with several payment networks:
- The PayPoint branded retail network numbers over 19,400 terminal outlets located in local shops (including Co-op, Spar, Costcutter, Sainsburys Local, One Stop, Londis and thousands of independents) in all parts of the UK and Ireland. Terminals handle gas and electricity meter prepayments, cash bill payments, mobile phone top-ups, transport tickets, London Congestion charges, TV licences and a wide variety of other payment types for all of the leading utilities, telecommunications suppliers and many consumer service companies. This network is used by consumers, free of charge, 8 million times a week. The network has 97.3% population cover on a 1 mile urban or 5 miles rural measure;
- Additionally there are over 2,000 Multiple retailer connections into the electronic till systems of outlets in the UK including BP, Somerfield and Superdrug for mobile top-ups and selected payments from the PayPoint range;
- The PayPoint ATM network has over 1,950 ‘LINK’ branded machines across the UK, also typically in convenience stores;
- PayPoint.net (combining Metacharge and SECPay), provides secure credit and debit card payments for over 4,500 web merchants linking into all the major UK acquiring banks; and
- PayPoint International acquired a Romanian mobile top-up operator in May 2007 to which a bill payment service will be added, emulating the UK branded retail network. PayPoint International also operates Irish bill payment and top-up services.
PayPoint floated on the London Stock Exchange in September 2004 and the company’s market capitalisation at 30 April 2008 was £371 million. PayPoint is widely recognised for its leadership in prepayment systems, smart technology and consumer service.
About Tuxedo Money Solutions
www.tuxedomoneysolutions.com
Tuxedo Money Solutions is one of the UK’s leading prepaid card service providers.
Its first prepaid proposition was the Blue Diamond Card launched in March 2007, the first ever all-in-one card package to be sold over the counter in local retail stores throughout the UK and more recently it has teamed up with the Sun and The News of the World, Britain’s best selling newspapers, to offer the Sun Tuxedo and News of the World Tuxedo cards. Many businesses have also partnered with Tuxedo to offer their own white label cards. Tuxedo additionally offers corporate solutions for Payroll, Expenses and Rebates. Tuxedo’s strengths lie in the unique, scalable eccount® technology that underpins the operation of its cards and the flexibility of marketing solutions and customer service it provides to its partnering clients. Tuxedo won the Best Prepaid Marketing Programme award at the 2008 UK Card Awards and was also a Winner for its Sun Marketing Programme in Las Vegas at the Paybefore Awards.
