Over 70% of PayPoint’s users want to pay taxes through this system

Recent studies commissioned by PayPoint Romania* have shown that, at a national level, over 70% of PayPoint users want to be able to pay taxes through this system; as such, the “taxes” category is ranked first among payments consumers would also like to make in PayPoint partner stores.

“Our recent study showed what we already knew: cash users as well as those who do not know, do not want or simply cannot make online payments have a huge need for a practical solution for paying taxes and fines. PayPoint successfully answers this need. We are extremely interested in a partnership with Authorities at the central level, which would enable taxpayers to pay their fiscal obligations quickly and easily, through PayPoint’s payment terminals. Consequently, people from all over Romania would have over 10.200 proximity stores, half of which in rural areas, where they already make a wide range of payments; they would successfully avoid crowded offices and queues, making quick, secure and easy payments, in cash.” said Mugur Dogariu, Managing Director PayPoint Romania

The research also showed how important being able to pay in cash is for respondents, among other criteria: 68.9% of those responsible for making household payments gave the highest marks to this criterion. In this context, different types of household payments are made, predominantly, in cash, irrespective of where respondents live. For example, the majority of those in charge of paying certain bills use cash in the following extents: 90.9% of them for water bills, 86.9% for electricity, 83.7% for telecommunications and cable, 79.7% for natural gas. When speaking strictly about residents from rural areas, the ratio of those making cash payments for any of the bills previously mentioned surpasses 96%. Furthermore, at national level, 83.4% of those in charge of paying the road tax do so in cash, while 86.3% of those who use prepaid phone services pay cash to top-up their credit.

Regarding the banking products used by Romanians, at a national level, 69.6% of the population in the study holds a bank card. Of them, 44.4% say they withdraw more than 90% of the amount when they receive their salary and pay in cash, 42.1% say they withdraw part of the amount to make cash payments, while 11.1% say they make card payments in over 90% of the situations; 2.4% said they do not receive any pay by card. 52.5% of residents of rural areas hold bank cards, while 56.7% of them withdraw over 90% of their money to make cash payments.

“In the past year we noticed online payment methods being heavily promoted in the media, with card payments being exclusively encouraged. Without underestimating the importance of modern card-based payment methods, we believe it is essential for the vast number of Romanians to have a viable payment alternative. Let us not forget that, at national level, people overwhelmingly prefer cash and the number of people who can pay online is limited. Moreover, in rural areas or smaller towns (meaning more than half of Romania) this situation is even more pronounced. We should also not forget about senior citizens who must still wait in queues at various offices. The need for an alternative that is truly accessible to the majority is extremely high.

There has been talk in the media about a Ministry of Finance project, mainly done since last year, regarding an electronic communication infrastructure that would connect all of Romania’s public institutions. We have the technical capability to integrate with and implement this project, there is huge demand from our system’s users to also make these kinds of payments through PayPoint, we have the experience of over 60 million Bill Payment transactions in the 2015-2016 financial year alone and we can offer the Ministry of Finance as well as any other agency a solution that, at this moment, answers the needs of the majority of taxpayers”, added Mugur Dogariu.

Currently, PayPoint has a network of 10.200 payment points in partner stores country wide; the system allows consumers to make a wide range of payments, in cash, through PayPoint terminals: bill payments, top-ups, money transfers, payment for the road tax etc. In the 2015-2016 financial year, there have been 60.2 million bill payment transactions through PayPoint, 12.7% more than in the previous year, as growth is reported every year on all business lines.

*The data was taken from the results of studies done by Millward Brown for PayPoint Romania at national level between April and May 2016, when the following methods were employed: interviews in front of selected PayPoint partner stores from urban and rural areas (1000 respondents, 18-65 years old, users and non-users of PayPoint’s system) and phone interviews (1000 respondents from urban and rural areas, 18-65 years old, responsible for making household payments).