PayPoint began trialling an in-store order and click and collect foreign exchange service “over the past few weeks”, following a partnership with eurochange.

The firm announced the news in its latest trading update for the three months, ending 31 December, published today. A spokesperson told Better Retailing that “the intention is to trial the service in circa 500 stores over the summer”.

The service will be promoted in-store, where customers will be able to click and collect the currency on-site. “The process will work very similar to parcels, in that the retailer will receive pre-packed foreign currency rather than having to count Euros on the counter,” said a spokesperson.

“Rates will be competitive versus other channels and it is being supported by a dedicated consumer prize draw via eurochange, where individuals ordering in store can ‘win back their travel money’ up to £300.”

Retailers will receive 75p for every customer who scans and orders on the dedicated website from the promotional material in store. There is also the chance for retailers to earn an extra 25p per package for every order collected, which is the same as a parcel transaction.

When asked when the service will be rolled out to more of its estate, a spokesperson responded: “For the moment, it’s a targeted trial before a further rollout. Like a lot of our newer propositions, this will be segmented to where there is the right consumer demand, the right location and the right retailer engagement to deliver the service.

“This fits within our longstanding commitment to diversifying our service offering and creating new opportunities to earn for our retailer partners. Clearly, there is an expanding range of financial services that ae being offered via our platform now, e.g. banking deposits for the likes of Monzo, foreign currency via eurochange, and we’ll be looking to develop that further over the next 12 months.”

PayPoint’s financial results

Elsewhere, in its results, PayPoint announced growth of its wider estate, totalling 28,900, up 422 sites since March last year.

Overall, PayPoint’s group net revenue rose by 59.8% to £52m, while card payment net revenue increased by 6.6% to £8.3m, driven by strong sales, and service fee net revenue saw a boost of 11.1% to £5m.

Nick Wiles, chief executive of PayPoint, said PayPoint had experienced a positive quarter, and the launch of PayPoint Mini in November helped deliver “further site growth” across the network and driven opportunities to earn for retail partners.

In a sign of success for Park Christmas Savings, the scheme delivered £162.6m of billings, supported by an “enhanced proposition, strong new customer recruitment and improved retention rates”. In Love2Shop, the number of retained clients was up 6%, but order values were down, resulting in weaker billings than expected in December.

Parcel volumes are also up 54% against the peak quarter in full year 2023, driven by the continued growth in store to store service, bolstered by additional partnerships with Vinted and Yodel.

The firm revealed that it is “in advanced discussions with a number of other major carrier partners about long-term contracts to continue to grow volumes”. 

Collect+ new revenue is reportedly up by 34.3% to £3.1m, while transactions grew by 54.3% to £26.2m. The network grew to 11,730 sites, including a further expansion of 12 university locations, with plans in place to expand to 25 sites in the next six months.

Wiles said the quarter reflects the “resilience of our businesses and the benefits from the transformation delivered over the past three years”.

In payments and banking, PayPoint confirmed it is “on track” to “onboard a record level of new business” as digital payments platform MultiPay “continues to establish itself as a comprehensive payments solution, Open Banking, direct debit and cash”.

The firm also confirmed it is in “the process” of onboarding Chase and Revolut for consumer deposits into its partnered network.

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