Card payments help Paypoint offset its drop in revenue
An increase in card payment transactions has helped Paypoint weather the Covid storm as it targets more retail partners amid the pandemic.
Underlying group net revenue fell nearly 11 per cent to £24.5m in the third quarter following the end of its contract with British Gas.
Its revenue from UK retail services fell 1.4 per cent to £10.6m, but increases in card payment transactions and service fees helped to offset the £0.4m hit from compensation paid to retail partners following an outage.
The payments company delivered a resilient performance in the face of further lockdowns. Card payment volumes grew 46.2 per cent year-on-year to 49.7m transactions as it increased its network to 27,758. The FTSE-listed firm said there had been “minimal impact from ongoing Covid-19 restrictions”.
Card transactions benefited from the increase in convenience store sales amid lockdown restrictions, with stores preferring to take payment by card. The average transaction value for the quarter increased from £11.91 to £12.41, helped by the increase in contactless limit to £45 alongside a higher average basket size.
“The business continues to show strong resilience and adaptability, delivering a robust performance, in line with expectations, despite increased restrictions in response to Covid-19,” chief executive Nick Wiles said.
Paypoint is now focusing on its retail partners through Paypoint One , with three quarters of its field sales team being redeployed to deliver training and “maximise the value of the technology in their stores”.
The firm said card payment and digital payment volumes are in line with its expectations and are expected to carry on performing strongly.
“ As we enter the final quarter, our underlying trading performance is at the higher end of our expectations for the year as a whole.”