New Clients this week

We have had a number of clients sign up for our Direct Debit services this week. So we give a big welcome to:

Turnkey Telecom – www.turnkey-telecom.co.uk who are a telephone system supplier based in Colchester. They also provide IP Solutions.

Ocean Voice and Data – www.oceanvoicedata.com are also a telephone and IP supply company, but based in Hertfordshire. 

Beanstalk Marketing Services – www.beanstalkmarketing.co.uk are a business to business telemarketing company.

 Web4Wants – www.web4wants.com is a really interesting online sales website. You post what you want and people come and and find you...

IP Solutions – www.ipsolutions.uk.com are an IP solutions specialist.

Wireless Edge Communications – www.wirelessedge.net are a technically advanced telecommunications company.

The range of companies using Direct Debit to collect their money is absolutely amazing. It's great to welcome some new exciting customers to the Eazipay family.

This is an article that appeared on Business Weekly in December. You can find the page here http://bit.ly/gI1cQI. Thanks to http://www.businessweekly.co.uk for publishing it.

Littleport Company Expanding

Direct debit processing company, Eazipay Ltd, based in Littleport, Cambridgeshire is poised to finish 2010 on a high note having experienced significant business growth in the last two years.

Despite increasingly difficult market conditions, Eazipay, one of the fastest growing direct debit bureaux in the country, has seen its turnover increase in the last two years. 

In the same period the company’s customer base has grown by 72 per cent together with a 48 per cent increase in the volume of direct debit transactions processed by the company.

Luisa Grey, Eazipay’s director said: “When times are tough the significance of managing your cashflow is of paramount importance and companies which collect regular payments by direct debit can manage their cashflow much more easily than companies that collect payments by other means.

“It doesn’t matter if you collect dozens of payments each month or just one payment a year, direct ddebit means that business owners know exactly what money is coming in and when. That knowledge can make the difference between survival and failure.”

It isn’t just customer activity that has been on the increase, Eazipay’s staff numbers have more than doubled in the last two years from nine in 2008 to 20 in 2010 forcing the company to have three major office expansions to accommodate new staff.

The company is a leading BACS approved, Commercial Bureau, with over 20 years experience in the provision of direct debiting services. It is currently providing regular direct ddebit services to more than 600 companies in a wide range of market sectors throughout the UK, Europe and beyond.

In 2011 it plans to launch a new online software system, which it believes will revolutionise the way direct debit collections can be processed on behalf of its clients.

More new clients this week

We are really please to welcome Matt Wood as a client this week. Matt is a Social Media Manager and his own Social Media Management Company at www.mattwoodsocialmedia.co.uk 


Search Britannia and Goldline Systems Ltd also signed up for our Direct Debit service this week. Their websites are under construction, but we'll put a link on here when they are ready...

We keep growing our list of clients at a great rate each week. 

January retail sales rise despite worries

According to the Sharecast site http://bit.ly/ebeCPc High Street sales were buoyant in January, despite the VAT increase. There was an increase of 9.1% from the previous January.

As it says later in the piece a lot of this can be put down to discounting from shops, and the mild weather. Casting our minds back to Jan 2010 we had some bad weather, some of the worst for years, if me memory serves me correctly.

What was absolutely staggering was the 49% increase in on-line trade. A huge increase.

What always concerns me about these reports is they are based on the major retailers, and not local shops. I appreciate they couldn't possibly get the figures together from all the independents out there, and they have to say something. But I suspect we will see a drop in how independents are fairing. Having said that I read on Paul Donno's site http://bit.ly/eo2EZR that some research has said that small companies are coping with the VAT increase, which is encouraging.

New to Eazipay this week.

We have had some great clients sign up this week (not to say clients that sign up other weeks aren't great too...)

We continue to get lots of thebestof's signing up with us. This week we have had www.thebestof.co.uk/truro  (Hi Michelle) and www.thebestof.co.uk/harrow (Hi Pardip and Nim).

It's great to welcome Customer Care Company www.customercaregroup.uk.net - who provide training on customer care for all sorts of different companies. We also have Happy Hounds www.happyhounds.co.uk, a London based dog walking and pet sitting company. BHB Marketing www.onlinebusinesspages.co.uk joined our happy family this week they offer on-line marketing services to over 10 000 businesses. PayDay Loans www.paydayloansltd.com started using our services to, they provide short term loans to clients. 2 more companies joined us this week 14 Visual Media www.i4visualmedia.co.uk who provide web design, SEO and Hosting and last but not least is Katara www.learnquickbooks.co.uk, who are a training company for Quick Books Accounting software.


It's great to welcome new companies to Eazipay, and it never ceases to amaze me the different types of business that can benefit form using Direct Debit to collect their money.

Direct Debit makes sense for Return On Digital

Direct Debit makes sense

for Return On Digital

A direct marketing company is saving time, money and effort after switching to Direct Debit collections through Eazipay Ltd.

Return On Digital is a full service digital marketing agency with offices in Manchester and London. It has around fifty clients who pay between £500 and £15,000 per month and almost all of them now settle their bills without the need for invoices to be raised or cheques to be sent.

 

For Guy Levine, CEO of Return on Digital, the decision to move to Direct Debit was a simple one.

“I’ve run businesses before and one of my biggest frustrations was the amount of time that was wasted chasing money. Clients would come up with every excuse in the book to hold on to the cash for a little bit longer and it was expensive in terms of staffing costs and general administration. And it was no good for my blood pressure.

 

“When I was thinking about starting Return On Digital, one thing I knew very early on was that I was going to set up a Direct Debit system. A colleague recommended Eazipay and we’ve been working very well together ever since.

 

“Direct Debit with Eazipay makes a huge amount of sense for all sorts of reasons. We have complete control of our cash flow as we know how much money is coming in and when it’ll arrive. We’ve also saved money on administration costs as we don’t need to employ such a large accounts team to send out invoices and statements and chase up outstanding bills.

 

“And the process itself is very simple. We give Eazipay all the details and they do the rest.

 

“We don’t even have to worry about the technical side of things as Eazipay does all that too. A good example was the recent change in VAT, which was all handled so smoothly it caused barely a ripple.

 

“Direct Debit also flags up potential problems very early on. We know within a day if a customer has missed a payment, so any businesses that are unable or unwilling to pay can be dealt with promptly.

 

“Customers see benefits, too. It’s equally simple for them to set up and helps with their cash flow. We can’t change the amount we take out of their account without their agreement and they are entitled to claw back what they’ve paid should something go wrong during the contract. 

 

“From a personal perspective, I also use Direct Debit as an informal credit check. If a customer is unwilling to sign up, it can sometimes set alarm bells ringing.

“And if I ever come to sell the company, having a Direct Debit system in place will be a big plus point for any potential purchaser.

“These days, I wouldn’t be without Direct Debit. Where companies have customers who pay the same amount on a regular basis, it should definitely be a part of their business model.”

www.returnondigital.com

Late Payments really hurt Business - Direct Debit can help with that

Late payment problems increased
in the last Quarter of 2010

   

According to Experian's Late Payment there was a significant increase in late payments to UK businesses, of all shapes and sizes in the last quarter of 2010.


Average Payment performance increased slightly during 2010 going from 22.8 days in 2009 to 22.6 days, but the performance slumped in the last quarter with the average being 25.7 days late, which is the highest since the start of the recession.


Rather unsurprisingly large businesses fare worst. Companies with more than 500 employees continue to pay companies late, despite many adopting policies to address this long term issue. However large enterprises saw the biggest improvement from an average of 38.96 days in 2009 to 35.74 in 2010.


Of course one of the most effective ways to help with late payers is to set them up on Direct Debit. Eazipay can offer very cost effective solutions to late payer problems. From just 40p per collection businesses can be safe in the knowledge that their money really is on it's way and not stuck in the post.

Cambridge News – Business - Working Day feature

Cambridge News – Business - Working Day feature

 

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Business/Working-Day/Luisa-Grey.htm

Luisa Grey, Operations Director at Eazipay Ltd, a leading BACS approved
Direct Debit processing company based in Littleport near Ely.

5.30am. Because I’m the nicest wife in the world, I always get up with my husband who has to leave early to start his job as a builder.  As soon as he’s gone, however, it’s back to bed with a cup of tea.

7am. Up for good this time. As well as the children to sort out there are chickens to be fed and three dogs to walk before I leave for work.

8.30am. First job of the day for me and the other 14 staff is always checking the emails. These often number between three and four hundred and concern the Direct Debit transactions we undertook yesterday.  As you can imagine, attention to detail is critical and it’s vital we get it right first time.

10.30am. A look back over the December figures and we’ve had another record month with over £8.6 million collected and 300,000 transactions and amendments carried out. We usually crack open the champagne every time we process another million pounds, and I think a record might also be cause for some celebration bubbly.

11.00am. I recently became a Money Laundering Officer and one of my jobs is to notice any odd patterns such as an sudden increase or decrease in transactions through an account. There’s almost always an innocent explanation but I meet regularly with the big banks to go over any queries.

Noon. Early lunch (well, I’ve been up a long time) and a meeting with Real, my PR company. I’m very keen to make Eazipay better known and am trying to raise the firm’s profile.  We look at some ideas to help us achieve world domination.

1.00pm. Back to the office and straight into a marketing meeting to try and drum up more business. It’s amazing how many companies aren’t aware of the benefits of Direct Debit and don’t appreciate what it can do for them.

Businesses can save huge amounts in administration costs, time and bank fees and it also enables them to manage their cash flow more effectively, which is particularly important in these difficult times.

Customers like it too because there’s normally a Direct Debit discount and it’s more secure than cheques or cash.  And they have complete control over their money.

2.30pm. It’s an afternoon of meeting potential and existing clients and it’s time for the first appointment.

Although companies sometimes see the potential in Direct Debit payment collections, they often think it’s technically quite difficult to arrange. As a result, a lot of my work involves reassuring and educating possible clients. We offer a full Facilities Management Service and, if required, can also take responsibility for the credit control of unpaid Direct Debit requests.

3.30pm. We also provide guidance and training for new customers in all aspects of Direct Debits and my second visit is to a new client for a training review session. I tend to take some of my sales and support team with me as unless my customer’s staff fully understand the benefits and simplicity of Direct Debit, they won’t be able to sell it to their customers properly.

4.30pm. Final customer meeting is with a franchise operation.  We’ve already had a number of successes with companies such as Curves Health Clubs – whose many gyms in the UK now all use Eazipay for their Direct Debit payments – and one of our main plans for 2011 is to get more franchises on board. Whether you’re a franchisee or a franchise seller, having Direct Debit already in place makes the offer that much more attractive.

5.30pm. Back in the office and there’s just time for a quick look at our new online system, which we’re launching shortly.  Once it’s live, it’ll give clients the chance to upload BACS files and maintain their own client database, which will make their processes faster and costs lower.

6.00pm. Home for more chicken feeding and dog walking before attending a couple of networking meetings. I’m also on call one evening a week in case of any system errors.

10.00pm. Back home at last and ready for bed alongside a husband who’s been in bed for at least an hour.

Press Release from Eazipay - Record Month

Record month for Direct Debit Bureau

February 2, 2011

Eazipay Ltd, a leading Direct Debit processing company, based in Cambridgeshire, has recorded its best month ever for Direct Debit collections during January 2011.

A record £8.9 million worth of Direct Debits were processed on behalf of its clients during January, signalling the company’s busiest month in its nine year history. The announcement comes on the back of the celebrations at the end of December 2010, when the company’s monthly processing levels rose to an all time high of £8.6 million worth of Direct Debit transactions.

Luisa Grey, Eazipay’s Director, comments, “We’re absolutely delighted to be able to report these record business levels. December is generally considered as one of the quietest times of the year so to record our best month ever during this period was a fantastic achievement.

“To go one further and do it again the following month is the icing on the cake; we couldn’t have wished for a better start to the New Year.”

A record number of new sales have also been logged for December 2010 and January 2011 assisting in the growth of the company’s customer base, which has increased by a massive 72% during the last two years.

“It seems that more and more consumers and businesses alike are realising the benefits of managing their cash flow by utilising Direct Debit payment processes”, adds Luisa.

“It doesn’t matter if you make or collect dozens of payments each month or just one a year, Direct Debit gives the certainty of knowing what money is coming in or going out, and when. That knowledge, particularly in these difficult times, can make the difference between survival and failure.”

Eazipay Ltd, which employs 14 full time staff, has become one of the fastest growing Direct Debit bureaus in the country. Despite increasingly difficult market conditions the company has seen its turnover increase in the last two years and is currently providing regular Direct Debit services to over 600 companies in a wide range of market sectors throughout the UK, Europe and beyond. 

Notes to editors:

For media enquiries and further information on Eazipay Ltd and its Direct Debit services, please contact Steve Greenhalgh or Damion Clark at Real Public Relations.

Steve Greenhalgh - 01223 492130 / 0779 129193 / steve@realpublicrelations.com

Damion Clark – 01223 492130 / 07789 911314 / damion@realpublicrelations.com