A news story on the ABC website today has some unfortunate misinformation attributed to the Australian Newsagents’ Federation.
Around 3,500 newsagents across the nation can no longer process bill payments, electronic mobile phone recharge PINs, and the Bill Express-owned Bopo pre-paid credit cards.
The ANF says a replacement system is yet to be found.
Chief executive Don MacAskill says some family-operated newsagencies will struggle
“There is no doubt that this is going to have serious ramifications on newsagents’ business,” he said.
Mr MacAskill says newsagents have no choice but to continue paying around $500 a month for computer software made redundant by the demise of Bill Express.
Many newsagents can process mobile phone top up and sell other electronic voucher product.
When the ANF says a replacement is yet to be found, it means that a replacement from which the ANF can profit is yet to be found. The ANF made at least $200,000 a year from Bill Express.
In any statement about Bill Express, the ANF needs to disclose that it was a commercial partner of Bill Express and for a considerable fee it promoted Bill Express to newsagents. The ANF is right to say “this is going to have serious ramifications”.
The ANF ought to know that newsagents have been receiving legal advice which contradicts its statement regarding the lease of the Bill Express equipment.
dont panic,dont panic.
simple solution to paying your customers bills.
collect theirmoney pay the bill on the internet-just like they should be doing in the first place- and reap all the tax free frequent flyer points.there is the potential to earn around 300,000 per year doing this.who needs a new bill payment service-you already have on!!!!!
Thats exactly the sort of half assed ,unprofessional,bordering on illegal,near enough is good enough approach that gets newsagents a bad name,and stops them being able to negotiate national or stae network deals as people try to do stupid things like that,that affect our retail networks integrity!Are you sure your names not Ian?
We need to be strong as an Industry and get collective Legal advice in the light of what has just happend.
Newsagents doing their own thing and not supporting those who wish to assist us in this crisis will not prosper.
ok helen i will take the points and get a free first class ticket around the world tax free-you join b pay and go from there
ps. helen, look where it got us the last time a brain got a great collective,national negotiated state deal-bill express .how did that affect our retail integrity-especially when it was promoted by an orgaization taking members own money each year.the sad thing that organization is still taking your money
some people just never learn
They’re not taking my money John,a little due diligence by us over 3 years ago saw the house of cards the BXP organization was built on ,and the pure financial stupidity of commiting to such a scheme(voluntarily i might add) was even obvious for me to see,it was never going to return profit to our store,or add value and so this stopped us joining,what i am saying though is shortsighted half baked approaches like you suggest earlier makes newsagents and our retail offer a laughing stock in retail circles,so, take a trip on someone elses points if it makes you feel better,you’re no better than the public servant who steals pens and staplers and tries to justify their behaviour by saying they are underpaid,what a joke!
david a few of those that are trying to help us in this mess are the ones who got us into the mess!!!if you did not support them in the first place you would not be in the mess you are in.
are you still going to support them when the next great idea comes up????
on the whole helen my idea is a great idea just like the bill express one.remember there are thousands of great ideas it is just luck which ones work-if people pay you the money and they are willing for you to pay their bills does it really matter if you use your card or a bill express “card?:it really cuts out the middle man making a profit,eg bill express or dial time,etc.you are providing a service using your time,etc.
if we were all doing this 5 years ago then bill express would not have got off the ground.also what is wrong charging people to use your service??why does it have to be a bill express service that charges them.re think it helen
ps helen tlking about half baked ideas that make newsagents laughing stocks then try this one: in the 1960s we lined up to pay bills in stores untill someone came up with the great idea to pay bills using the phone.this lasted untill a genius came up with the idea to use the internet.then someone in 2001 or whatever came up with the brainwave to go back to where we began by paying bills in stores,waiting on lines,etc.the someone,egt mark fletcher may come up with a new idea to pay bills on line using his tower program and it keeps going in circles
Just quickly glanced through these emails, as I’m too busy working, serving my customrs to pay heed, but anyone who knows John knows that he is a sarcastic B and means the opposite of what he says!
Anyone would have to be small brained to really believe he meant what he wrote!
John,the simple fact that you are not licenced by the utilities to collect fees on their behalf might be a good place to start as to why you should not do it… and thus why its not a great idea is pretty obvious…….Choice is the key to paying bills,by post,in person online ..it doesnt really matter as long as it legal to do it….Just a query,how long do you hold Mrs Smith’s cash before you pay her bill?Do you take your credit cards 55 days interest free period,seriously get real..but hey those payments that must look good for the cash flow..i hope you generate a recipient created tax invoice for your customers!
when i eventually sell the newsagency i will produce a booklet on “how to make money as a newsagent” it will make interesting reading and at $10.00 a copy it will be a sound investment.helen i know you do not want a copy,no problems.
ps as soon as the customer comes in you pay the bill and write the receipt number on her bill.they wait in front of you
one free very minor tip from my forthcoming book -really the most obvious: a good accountant,i will throw in a few more- a good doctor and they are very hard to find.ok ok a forgiving priest makes it three but these are only the trivial.just you wait for that book……
i am calling on mark fletcher to make one final stand from the ashes and form a new newasagency body.the guru can do it.hes been faxing like mad today with specials on everything.its only a matter of time before he has optus and vodaphone on board,not to mention a new bill paying service.the guru is the last hope for newagents.he has my support.
keep going mark
I agree with John.
I do it for the regular old dears that don’t want to go to the post office.
There’s nothing half-arsed about it.
No drama, while they wait.
Too easy. Only takes literally a minute.
I do it either way; when by phone, I write the bpay reciept on their bill.
If I do it on the net, I print the whole bpay banking receipt.
&, by the way, bollocks to the anf. They are bludgers and liars.
I have resigned, and I’ve joined NANA.
called the help desk at tower this afternoon about a problem with gordon gotch.the guru answered, stressed out of his mind-had hundreds of people wanting to talk to him about bill express he said.he was pumped,wont sleep tonight i guess.
it wont be the year the dream died.
keep going guru-the last great hope
i just went to the pos solutions blog and seems like they are not really concerned about what is happening….wonder what happened during their meetings with bill express ??