Investing in the Aussie Phonecard

For transparency, I post below a copy of an announcement today about our new shareholding in Access International, the company behind the Aussie Phonecard.  I have been impressed with Aussie for some time – the 30% commission it pays newsagents, the quality of call on the cards and the real value to consumers.  It’s not often newsagents can make 30% GP from a product which does not require any stock investment.

Access International Group, the company behind the popular Aussie Phonecard, has completed a share placement to parties associated with retail software company Tower Systems.

As a result of the share placement, reflecting 25% of paid up capital, Tower Systems owner Mark Fletcher has joined the Board of Access International Group Pty Ltd.

The funds and other resources brought in through the share placement will be used by Access to bring additional phonecard products to market and to expand the retail network selling the company’s products.

“The technical and organisational synergy between Access and Tower is excellent on many fronts” commented Access Managing Director Steve Mclean.  “We will quickly leverage this to bring new offers to our retail partners and to expand our retail network.”

“I was drawn to Access by the honesty of their consumer offer and the genuine value they deliver their retail partners” said Mark Fletcher, Managing Director of Tower Systems.  “I am looking forward to working with the company to help more Australians benefit from their products.”

Access plans for first additional phonecard product launch for July this year.

The company is currently recruiting business development staff in Melbourne and Sydney to drive increased penetration of its products.

The Australian phonecard market is estimated to be worth in excess of $220 million a year with annual growth of 12%

FOR MORE INFORMATION:  Mark Fletcher (Tower Systems) 0418 321 338; Steve Mclean (Access International) 07 5526 9737.

Tower Systems has been serving Australian retailers since 1981.  Its software is currently running in 1,532 newsagencies around Australia and 1,000 other retailers.

Access International has been supplying phonecard product to Australians since 2002.  Steve McLean has been in the phonecard channel since 1999. The company has a reputation for a true what you see is what you get offer – no hidden charges!

I am excited by the synergy this relationship offers as we work together to develop other products which can deliver excellent GP to newsagents.