Author: Mark Fletcher

The following advice is provided by Blackhawk for newsagents where their Gift Cards were offered through the Bill Express / Dialtime package:

All merchants who were selling Gift Cards, and have been effected by the DialTime terminal’s going down, please hold onto your stands, as an alternative connectivity is being developed which is a few weeks away from being available for their use. Please feel free to contact us on info@bhnglobal.com, which will also provide a clear channel for all future communication on their Gift Card Stands.

Gift Cards are huge business in the United States.  We are several years behind in embracing this opportunity.

The ANF has changed its advice on the Bill Express direct debit but its recommendation remains unclear. NANA and the QNF are having no such difficulty in providing advice to their members. The level advice from the QC who has prepared the Class Action is that newsagents should not continue to pay for the lease of the equipment, advice that newsagents cancel the direct debit. Newsagents ought to get their own advice on this, I provide information here as to the advice provided to QNF and NANA members for information only.

It has been suggested from people who would know something of the sale of the Technology Business International debtors to Mobius, part of Allco, that great care was taken on the appropriate structuring of the transaction. I guess this is part of what will ultimately be tested in court.

With the collapse of Bill Express, many people have been left without the ability to load funds on to their BOPO card to make payments. To assist BOPO cardholders, SCX Global is offering a free CANVAS Prepaid Visa Card, for a limited time only, when you apply online. Simply enter loadcashplay in the promotional code when applying online for a $1000 CANVAS card and SCX Global will waive the purchase fee.

CANVAS Prepaid Visa Card allows you to shop and pay wherever Visa prepaid is accepted (the same as BOPO). CANVAS currently has a reload network of over 1500 stores including the ability to load via BPay.

You can apply for the CANVAS card at www.mycanvascard.com.au.

Newsagents can sell CANVAS cards directly to consumers by having physical cards available for sale in store thanks to our eziPass platform. Visit the eziPass website for details on how you can sell Visa Prepaid cards including Gift cards, Money Transfer cards and online shopping Virtual Visa cards.

UPDATE:  Anyone who applied today using the promo code and was asked to pay to contact CANVAS customer service on info@mycanvascard.com.au and they will gladly process / refund any payment for free.

A colleague sent me this photo of a Bill Express screen advertising the BOPO card in a newsagency tonight. Newsagents have not been told to turn off the screen. The BOPO ads have not been stopped.

While I am no lawyer, for what it’s worth I’d suggest that all newsagents turn off their Bill Express advertising screens – otherwise, as the photo shows, you are likely to be advertising a dead product.

As a result of my blog posts here about BOPO I’ve had calls from BOPO customers upset that money they just loaded is inaccessible to them.  The BOPO website is completely helpless in this area – it ought to provide advice to these customers.

With more newsagents disconnecting their Bill Express equipment, the challenges for the Administrator of Bill Express and liquidator of Technology Business International are considerable.  While the equipment is installed and on the counter the equipment can be quickly identified.  Once it is in a box and put in the backroom of a newsagency it is likely to get lost.

In my newsagencies we are removing the equipment and un-cluttering the counter.  Since we have technology experience it is easier for us than others.  It is a service we may offer others who want to do the same.  Anyone with basic computer skills can handle this.

On the Bill Express screens, I’d love to hear what the Swish group think about this.  Their last announcement to the ASX about the Bill Express screens (in April) was that they were thrilled to have the Bill Express screens added to their network.

Newsagents are getting swamped by telemarketers promoting eftpos and mobile phone recharge offers.  I am hearing reports that some telemarketers are being overzealous in representing their offers, even claiming they are part of one group when they are not.  For the record, no telemarketers are calling at present to pitch eziPass or the St.George offer I brokered.  Newsagents signing up with St.George or Suncorp as a result of telemarketing are entering sa relationship which provides commission to the ANF.

Newsagents are getting questions from customers about their BOPO cards and, in particular, how they can use the BOPO service.  Cuscal, the financial institution behind the Bill Express BOPO product issued a helpful statement on Friday last week.  They also provided a diagram to help BOPO customers understand where their cash may be depending on when they loaded to their BOPO card.

While the administrator has BOPO and other Bill Express assets for sale, BOPO is tainted goods and probably of little value.

While two of the BOPO companies, BOPO Cards Pty Ltd and BOPO Cards (Australia) Pty Ltd have had administrators appointed,   BOPO Cards (International) Pty Ltd has not.

The Queensland Newsagents’ Federation is providing unbiased professional advice to newsagents on pre paid product options, eftpos processing options and steps to take in relation to the Bill Express direct debit. Importantly, the QNF declares that it does not receive any commission or rebate of any kind.

This is how an industry association should act. Maybe they should consider inviting newsagents from outside Queensland to join?

Ray Hadley gave the Bill Express story a good run on Friday. You can here a couple of clips from the shop at the 2GB website. Listen to the interview Ray did with Don MacAskill the Acting CEO of the ANF. Don does not answer some of Ray’s questions. For the record, I note:

1. The ANF banked in excess of $1 million from Bill Express.
2. The ANF staff actively promoted Bill Express.
3. The ANF published industry journal actively promoted Bill Express – editorial independence on Bill Express was sold by the ANF to Bill Express.
4. Not one article in the journal indicated to newsagents that the ANF had a commercial arrangement with Bill Express. Newsagents did not know about the secret commissions being paid.
5. The ANF earned a success fee for every site signed up on top of money from each bill payment.
6. I cannot find any evidence of ANF undertaking due diligence of the contracts newsagents signed.
7. The ANF has now endorsed other suppliers (of banking and related arrangements) for which it receives, reportedly, 40% of the available commission – newsagents get 60%.

Ray hadly has helped newsagents tremendously by giving this story airtime. It is important that newsagents talk to their local radio stations and other media outlets to ensure that this story continues to get attention.

In the wake of the collapse of Bill Express, Access phonecards can send you physical $10, $20, $30 & $50 calling card stock overnight. Newsagent commission is 30%. These can be used for calling just about any country and rural Australia. These cards will tide you over while eziPass or other paperwork is processed. Email info@accessphonecards.com.au or call 1300 667 017 or go to www.accessphonecards.com.au and click the retailer section.

Disclosure: I am a shareholder in in Access phonecards.