The media interest in the difficulties of Bill Express is growing. I did three interviews yesterday with journalists writing pieces about the history of the network and the impact of the current situation on newsagents. This follows the Herald Sun and News Ltd interviews earlier in the week. I am finding journalists confused about how newsagents became involved with Bill Express and why we agreed to lease the equipment for $495 a month. There is also confusion in their minds about ePay, eziPass and even, for one chap, Ezipin.
The journalists are more interested in writing about the future of the public company than the impact on the newsagency channel and this is disappointing. Right now we have 3,500 outlets unable to sell Optus recharge vouchers. That is a huge story in my view – along with the story about the impact on country towns and in other locations where the newsagency is the go to place for recharge. This is one reason I am not so sure that Optus will stay off the Bill Express / Dialtime platform forever.
The other aspect of the interest from journalists which is interesting is about bill payment. Well, their lack of interest actually. They see it as yesterday’s news. I asked one journo and she said what’s the deal – I pay all my bills online.
Am I the only one who cannot access the dialtime network from the billexpress terminal or has something big happened? Not only optus but all products are not able be sold, called the help desk but no response. Has someone gone out of business?
Earlier this morning, I wanted to print out a barcode for Optus$40 but the terminal indicated an error message. hOwver not with the Optus$70.
Believe it’s to do with Optus terminating its agreement with BillExp and not supplying any more stock.
Whatever you can sell from DialTime for Optus products are just leftover stock, once depleted, there’s no restocking.
Am not sure about now,bcos we are not using DialT much except for physical ones we do not have in stock.
Mark, your comment “Right now we have 3,500 outlets unable to sell Optus recharge vouchers.” I think this is a bit of an exaggeration I thought that there was only about 2200 newsagents with BE.
How many newsagents are in conjunction with Post Offices (that have plenty of Optus vouchers) or have EPay, or the Commonwealth Bank epos machine that dose phone vouchers?
BE/Dialtime has not been the only phone voucher provider.
This is not just about Newsagents, what about service stations and convenience stores that have dialtime.
Maybe all the associations that are affected by all of this BE/dialtime fiasco should get together on a united front ,it’s not just about the newsagents.
Clem
BXP does not provide enough added value to stay afloat.
This is indeed not big news.
However it impacts us newsagents in that they try to offload risk to us in the form of forced charges from our account, in tunes of $500 a month.
This is unacceptable. Someone at BXP should just take the business failure as what it is instead of grasping for what they do not deserve
Clem,
Bill Express claims 4,700 newsagents and other retailers. My last advice from a Bill Express representative was the number I quoted. So, I don’t think it is an exaggeration.
Mark
Perth WA here, we can’t use our dialtime machine at all. We haven’t been able to since last night. Any idea what’s happening?
It is very disappointing that the very medium that the newsagents work hard to distribute, are totally disinterested in this BE fiasco.
As I commented yesterday my entire dialtime terminal is down and I cannot sell any products not just OPTUS, called support but no one is home, just the same message as yesterday saying the system will be back up in 1/2 hour, what a load of fluff. Is this what I am paying $500 a month for, thank god we installed ezipass, or we would be pushing s#@t up hill. We have lost nearly $600 in sales yesterday and this morning alone because we cannot access the system. Who will compensate me and others. No wonder the share price is nothing, all sellers of Dialtime/billexpress have been dudded not just newsagents. A quick note to Optus and Vodaphone, I am the only newsagent open in a small country town on a sunday but cannot sell your products unless you go with ezipass. I know you sell physical prepaid recharge cards but this is another cash drain on my already struggling business.
Luke, bottom line is at the moment if you don’t want to keep losing sales, you need the cards..If it is a cash drain now imagine what it will be like after a few more days of no phone credit..Even being the only one in town open will not stop people going online or elsewhere and once that sale is lost they may not comeback,
Not Vodaphone though, they got rid of them,the recharge phonecard, I mean.
Are u in NSW? There is a class action by newsagents coming up organised through NANA.
Not sure whether you have seen anything about this on the other blog streams here.
If not, would encourage you to contact NANA yourself and find out.
OnQ & Bill Express have the same Directors!! They are in way to deep!! I’d bet we administrators appointed within the next few weeks!..
ANZ Banking Group has almost $50 million at risk with troubled business systems company On Q Group which has come under severe financial pressure this year.
The group’s auditor Grant Sincock, of Moore Stephens, alerted investors on March 12 to financial uncertainty that may have “cast significant doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern”.
The group’s main asset is its 37 per cent stake in loss-making national payments provider, Bill Express Limited.
As at December 31 the On Q group had a working capital deficiency of $7.2 million after it posted a first-half loss of $4.85 million.
A major contributor to the underperformance of On Q Group was the $3 million loss reported by Bill Express for the six months to December.
The weakened financial position of On Q Group and Bill Express has triggered concern among newsagents across Australia that its payments network may be in financial trouble.
Several newsagents who contacted BusinessDaily last night said they were concerned about the ability of Bill Express to continue delivering services under long-term agreements.
Bill Express is linked to more than 3000 newsagents who provide bill payment and fund transfer services via the network.
The On Q group has fully drawn down on two credit lines provided by ANZ. They comprise a $41 million commercial bill facility and a $6 million overdraft.
The Bill Express share stake — the largest liquid asset of the On Q group — has fallen more than 75 per cent since December.
Bill Express’ ASX-listed scrip yesterday closed near a 12-month low at 4 after chief executive Ian Christiansen told the market that the company was in dispute with Optus over a supply agreement.
Mr Christiansen said that Optus was seeking payments from Bill Express.
“Optus has purported to terminate its supply agreement with Bill Express on the basis of a failure to pay an amount owing to Optus,” he said in the filing.
“The company disputes that Optus was entitled to do so and will defend its position.”
An Optus spokeswoman said the telco had issued a termination notice for a sub-agency agreement with Bill Express last week.
“This was a result of the company breaching its payment obligations under the agreement,” the Optus spokeswoman said.
Mr Christiansen said Bill Express had taken advice on the impact of the Optus dispute and advised that “it was able to pay its debts as and when they fall due.”
Newsagents are up in arms at moves by Bill Express which, they say, will force them to carry an underperforming bill payment platform.
Bill Express has announced it will scrap a subsidy to cover the shortfall between newsagent commissions and a four-year, $495-a-month lease on a bill payment, phone credit and Eftpos package.
Mark Fletcher, whose two Melbourne newsagencies are in the top 100 performers for Bill Express, said his businesses would end up only about $5 a month in the black.
The Queensland Newsagents Federation is understood to be one of the few groups still in discussions with Bill Express, according to its president Jim Cassimatis.
“The Australian Newsagents Federation won’t talk to them, the NSW newsagents won’t talk to them and I don’t think Victoria is either – but we are,” he said.
“We’re hoping to retrieve something out of the discussions but basically, we’re pretty adamant that we want our members to recoup what’s been taken away.”
Mr Cassimatis said newsagents were “never told the subsidy would be withdrawn” when they signed contracts to carry the Bill Express platform four to five years ago.
But the problem for newsagents was that assurance was verbal and not written into contracts, he said.
Bill Express chief executive Ian Christiansen was not available for comment.
The directors of On Q Group expressed confidence in March that the company would be able to meet its financial commitments.
“The directors remain confident that the company is a going concern and will continue to settle liabilities as and when they become due and payable,” the company reported to shareholders.
I do understand I will have to fork out for physical cards come monday morning Mary, but my point was that it is another drain on our business that in these hard times I and many other retailers just don’t need. It is interesting to finally see the reason Optus pulled out of billexpress, failure to pay. I’m sure I’d get a swift response if I stopped billexpress/dialtime taking $500 out of my bank each month.
Interesting that Bill Express need more info from ONQ before understanding if the debt owed to BXP by ONQ can be recovered.
Given the head office of both companies is the same place, and given the Boards are largely the same guys, I struggle to understand how they don’t know right now.
A 2 week trading halt now – I suspect my shares are worth nothing.
John,
Maybe it will take the receivers that much time to work the mess out.
Clem
Does anyone know where to get the physical Optus recharge cards?
I’m turning away a customer every half hour now.
Michael,
try Jenlist Distributors.1300730343. We can not sell Optus $30,but we can sell Optus $10.
What’s the story between BXP and Optus? Does Anyone hear something?