PayPoint applauds the government’s £500m pledge to the UK’s poorest households

By Joy Dumasia

PayPoint is lauding the UK government that announced the decision of a £500 million grant to help vulnerable households in the UK. They are now calling on local authorities to provide convenient and immediate access to much-needed cash to the financially vulnerable.

Throughout the pandemic, more than 100 local authorities benefitted from PayPoint’s Cash Out service to help deliver emergency funds to those in need, with over 2 million vouchers issued with a total value of over £100 million. Cash Out works in real-time to seamlessly enable eligible households to receive vouchers via email, letter or SMS to then be presented to obtain cash or energy credit payments at one of PayPoint’s 28,000 retailers.

Demonstrating the speed at which people can benefit from the service, a PayPoint Cash Out voucher was recorded as having been presented to obtain cash just over a minute from receipt. PayPoint has also recently joined forces with the Department for Work & Pensions (DWP) to deliver payments to those without access to a standard bank account. Previously, many UK benefits recipients, who chose to receive their benefits in cash, collected their payments using a paper-based voucher system or a Post Office Card Account.

Access to the Cash Out facility is via an online portal that removes any development for local authorities. Not only does this ease the burden on local authorities already facing significant challenges, but it enables them to utilise cash Out as a solution immediately.

Danny Vant, Client Services Director at PayPoint, said: “Since March 2020, we have seen various government support mechanisms created, and while there has been success, local authorities faced challenges in providing straightforward access to funds. To help with this issue, we made use of our Cash Out solution and network of retailers.”

IBS Intelligence reported that PayPoint stated that its platform MultiPay aims to help businesses overcome the financial challenges of achieving PCI compliance. The FinTech PayPoint enables these businesses to quickly and easily protect their customer data and comply with the regulations.