Last month, Sir Edward Garnier, MP for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston, visited a PayPoint outlet in his constituency at Mercury News, St Mary’s Place in Market Harborough, where he met Mr Peter Brooker, a representative from PayPoint and the vendors. PayPoint is an international provider of payment and other services to the utility, telecoms, media, financial, transport, retail, e-commerce and the public sectors, delivered through local shops, the internet and mobile telephones. It is a free service and allows a wide range of people, including people without bank accounts and those who do not want to set up direct debits, to pay their bills.
Edward Garnier commented: “It was good to learn about the services that PayPoint offers my constituents. Not everyone pays bills by direct debit and this provides a convenient method for people to pay for bills when they are out shopping for groceries. PayPoints are available at many convenience stores and newsagents and are availble to use on Bank holidays and at weekends if the shop is open on those days. ”
Peter Brooker, Head of Corporate Affairs at PayPoint said: "Across the country, our network is used by consumers, free of charge, over 12 million times a week and in the Harborough constituency, there are 35 shops with PayPoint, providing a vital service to several thousand people, especially those with prepayment energy meters. They are able to rely on these shops being open for them all day, every day – including Sundays and bank holidays – when they can top up their meters. In fact, more than 2,300 people in Harborough used our shops to top up their gas or electricity on the Christmas period bank holidays last year."