The extension allows customers who choose to process their payments via Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank (A&L) to have access to more than 31,000 outlets for their customers to make payments. The bank’s network has more than doubled following an agreement that enables A&L customers’ clients to make bill payments at over 17,000 outlets around the UK that display the Payzone sign. This is in addition to the 14,000 UK Post Offices that already accept payments.
Bryce Glover, director of corporate banking at Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank, said: Alliance & Leicester Commercial Bank has over 35 years’ experience of processing payments for organizations of all sizes and our extended network highlights our commitment to the bill payments market. Customers want to make paying bills as convenient as they can for clients and therefore providing an extensive network and increased choice is proving very popular.
At present, more than 2,000 organizations take advantage of the bank’s bill payment services to collect payments from their customers. In 2006, A&L handled over 150 million bill payment transactions.
The agreement offers greater convenience for consumers, with thousands more outlets available to people making plastic card and bar-coded payments. The network also offers extended accessibility as most of the Payzone outlets have longer opening hours, including weekends, with some open 24/7. It will also mean greater choice of locations for payers as the Payzone network includes newsagents, convenience stores and petrol stations.
