Retailers with EPoS provided by IT Retail Systems (ITS) are to have support for Worldpay card services suspended at the end of this year.

Both companies have started informing retailers about the suspension due to their commercial relationship coming to an end.

An email sent to retailers by Worldpay seen by Better Retailing said: “I can confirm our relationship with IT Retail is due to end very soon. This should have little impact to the services you receive, however this cannot be guaranteed.

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“To have better certainty, you can contact us to transfer to one of our active integrated payment solution partners.

“There is no obligation on you to do so, the choice is up to you if you do want to transfer to one of our active integrated payment solution partners.”

Better Retailing understands the EPoS firm has no intention of withdrawing support for Worldpay card terminals until their partnership ends in 2021 and is in the process of informing its customers about the transition process.

The reason for the end of the agreement and the number of retailers affected has not been confirmed.

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ITS serves more than 1,400 store owners across major symbol groups such as Nisa, Londis, Costcutter and Premier. The company is to recommend alternative card payment providers to its retailers.

One affected store owner told Better Retailing Worldpay charges a fee of 0.26% for debit card and 0.6% for credit card transactions.

In December, ITS retailers had received calls from people claiming to be Worldpay representatives, informing them their services would be cut from mid-January. The calls were not officially associated with ITS.

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One retailer, who asked not to be named, told Better Retailing they had been contacted on Christmas Eve. “They rang me and said the service would stop on 16 January. It was a shock to be called on Christmas Eve.

“I contacted them again after I gathered my thoughts and asked them to provide written notice. They were taken aback when I requested this.”

Official contract terms on Worldpay’s website state it would give retailers at least two months’ written notice when altering agreements.

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Commenting on whether they would switch EPoS providers, one affected retailer said: “I can find another payment provider.

“It doesn’t make sense to switch to who Worldpay suggests because ITS has been in the industry a long time and their systems are suited for convenience retail.”

Worldpay declined to comment when asked by Better Retailing about the calls in December. Instead, a spokesperson said: “As a matter of policy, Worldpay does not comment on specific vendor relationships.”

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