A service designed to improve the payment of goods between retailers and wholesalers is looking to expand in more cash and carries.

EchoPay enables shop owners to clear invoices for orders from participating wholesalers through a smartphone app. Managing director James Ward told Better Retailing the company is working with 11 wholesalers, which includes United Wholesale Scotland (UWS) and United Wholesale Grocers (UWG), and is looking to add more wholesale customers.

He added: “It’s quicker and more flexible, improving payment time for retailers. They can pay off what they need anywhere and at any time. We’ve seen payments go through at midnight, and even some at 5am. Retailers can easily clear their accounts without having to call a wholesaler directly.”

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Ward said demand from wholesalers for the service has been driven by rising commercial card fees charged to them every time a retailer makes a transaction. “We work on a subscription model and charge 50p per transaction, whereas the rate card companies take is between 0.75% and 1.5% of each purchase,” he said.

In January, UWG and UWS stopped accepting personal debit and credit card payments from retailers, while implementing a 1% surcharge on commercial card purchases in response to rising transaction fees.

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