Australian Newsagency Blog

I estimate that newsagents currently ‘owe’ somewhere between $15 million and $20 million to Technology Business International for the equipment used in-store for the Bill Express Dialtime bill payment / phone recharge service.
Most newsagents entered into their lease agreements for this equipment expecting that they would never have to pay the lease costs thanks to […]

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Seventy newsagencies were represented in a meeting held in Melbourne yesterday to discuss Bill Express and the company’s removal of marketing subsidies which it used to promote the service into newsagencies. One hundred newsagents apologised in advance of the meeting for not being available to get away from their shops.
The newsagent-only meeting opened with […]

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The Queensland Newsagents’ Federation has organised a meeting for Tuesday June 24 at 3pm at the GNS offices to advise attendees about avenues of possible relief open to them. The announcement sent says, in part:

At that meeting we will be actively advising any newsagent who may wish to know how to join the NSW […]

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VANA sent a fax to Victorian newsagents yesterday saying it was not involved in the newsagent meeting tomorrow about Bill Express. They could have been involved but they chose not to - probably because their agreement with the ANF precludes them acting against the ANF.
The ANF is pursuing one avenue of possible legal action […]

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The phones have run hot today following the announcement of a newsagent only meeting in Melbourne this Thursday, June 19, to discuss Bill Express. The most common feedback is - at last newsagents are doing something. Some newsagents who cannot make the meeting are pledging an amount they are happy to contribute to […]

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A newsagent-only meeting about Bill Express has been organised for Thursday of this week. The purpose of the meeting is to provide newsagents with information and a forum through which a course of action can be considered. The meeting details are:
Thursday June 19 at 11am
Crest on Barkly Hotel, Barkly Street St Kilda
The planned agenda […]

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Bill Express (BXP) owes me close to $2,000 in unpaid fees for each of my newsagencies. These debts are growing by an estimated $500 a month across the two businesses. In the four months that Bill Express has not paid the Advertising Rebate it guaranteed in writing in 2003, its indebtedness to newsagents […]

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The Queensland Newsagents’ Federation is engaged in dialogue with the ACCC on behalf of newsagents on the Bill Express issue. This has developed as a result of the advice provided by the QNF to its members around two months ago. Many newsagents have written to the ACCC expressing their concerns about the recent removal […]

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While the future of Bill Express remains unknown - the company extended its trading halt another five days today (groan) - the hunt for evidence and for people of interest by those behind several possible court and other actions continues.
Prior to joining the Board of the Australian Newsagents’ Federation in December 2003, I was provided […]

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The folks at St.George have prepared a flyer to promote the merchant offer for Tower and eziPass newsagents. This is the same offer subsequently followed by the ANF but not promoted by them.

Many newsagents have already embraced these excellent rates. For the record, neither I nor any business with which I am associated […]

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The anger of newsagents about the Bill Express mess continues to grow. If what I hear, more groups are forming looking at legal action and more individual newsagents are seeking their own legal advice.
While some are focusing on the agreements newsagents signed, others are focusing on representations made which guided newsagents to sign these […]

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A report on Page 62 of today’s Australian Financial Review suggests that the company is close to sorting its woes out. I am interested that the key quotes from Ian Christiansen, CEO of Bill Express, relate to newsagents and that the company compensates us for non performance. Hmm, Bill Express established the terms […]

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I am surprised at the 34% increase in bills paid in our newsagency using Bill Express in May 2008 compared to May 2007 given the poor health of the Bill Express company. Bill payment continues to be less efficient than I would like with most sales not including any other product.

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Given the mess of Bill Express and the removal of subsidies paid to newsagents by the company, some newsagents are taking steps to cancel direct debit arrangements for payment of the old Bill Express equipment. Without commenting on the appropriateness of such a step, I am grateful to a colleague who pointed me to […]

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While the ANZ and other Bill Express creditors and stakeholders are, I suspect, working through the weekend on a restructure for the business, Newsagents are looking at how they can get out of their Bill Express contract and the associated lease for the equipment Bill Express installed in newsagencies.
When newsagents signed on for Bill Express, […]

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The Age has a good story today about some of the challenges around OnQ and Bill Express. My only comment would be that there could have been more complete coverage of the plight of newsagents.
Newsagents were actively recruited into Bill Express by representatives of the company and through the active endorsement of their association, […]

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The elephant in the room at the ANF National Convention this week has been the Bill Express issue. Just about every newsagent I meet asks what is likely to happen and whether they will have to pay back the lease they took out on the equipment. Like so much about Bill Express at the […]

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When Bill Express unilaterally removed the marketing and other rebates in February, they introduced a new pricing structure which included the quarantining of around 30% of my revenue from bill payment services for marketing. It is May and I am yet to see any activity for my contribution to their marketing fund. Given […]

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I was surprised when Bill Express announced their deal with the Swish group last month about in-store advertising screens. This was the day before Bill Express sought suspension because of a supplier dispute. The Bill Express / Swish deal trumpeted a combined massive network and talked up expectations. 3,500 newsagents knew otherwise. […]

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I have been told that a company called Loyalty Direct Pty Ltd terminated the services of 35 employees on Friday of last week without redundancy or accrued benefits paid. I have also been told that another group of Loyalty Direct employees were terminated and immediately offered contracts with a business called Payroll Express […]

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A customer loaded their BOPO card here in Australia with cash. Their friend overseas tried to withdraw cash from the BOPO account, as they have done previously, without success. Several calls later, the customer has been told by BOPO representatives that the platform is down. This is just another challenge for Bill […]

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Newsagents angry at their treatment by Bill Express are closing bank accounts in order to stop the company sweeping their account for the lease payment on the Bill Express equipment. Newsagents I have spoken with tell me they are taking this drastic step because of the lack of a response from the company […]

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Bill Express requested the ASX suspend their shares for a further two weeks this morning. What is not clear from the announcement is the status of Optus mobile phone recharge on the Bill Express / Dialtime network. The status is complicated by some newsagents reporting that they cannot access Bill Express / Dialtime […]

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The media interest in the difficulties of Bill Express is growing. I did three interviews yesterday with journalists writing pieces about the history of the network and the impact of the current situation on newsagents. This follows the Herald Sun and News Ltd interviews earlier in the week. I am finding journalists […]

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I am surprised at some of the reporting on the Bill Express situation. Take today’s Australian Financial Review - nothing other than a rehash of the ASX announcement re the suspension of shares. Given that 3,500 retail outlets have had Optus recharge turned off and others are reporting issues with Telstra recharge I would […]

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