Non-support of Govt forces EasyPay to close
One full time and two part time employees will be losing their jobs as the company has not been able to find other alternative jobs to absorb them.
Speaking with this news site EasyPay’s President Mr Julien N. Johnson yesterday October 27, 2014 said that the two major bill paying arms of the government system Water and Sewerage and BVI Electricity Corporation (BVIEC) has over the past three years refused to enter any contractual arrangement with EasyPay to allow customers the options of paying their bills.
“Unfortunately we were unable to secure agreements with Water & Sewerage and the BVI Electricity Corporation, the two largest utility companies in the BVI, to collect bill payments on their behalf. The business model is based on volume and without the participation of these key utilities, the business is not viable in this market,” said Mr Johnson.
He said that both LIME and Digicel have been ardent in doing business with EasyPay for the inception but it is not sufficient to sustain the business any longer. This he said had left the company no option but to close its doors effective October 31, 2014 and to write all its customers informing them of the new development.
Below is the letter verbatim to EasyPay customers.
“Dear valued clients:
We regret to inform you that EasyPay will cease operations on 31st October, 2014. After that date we will no longer collect bill payments at our locations at Clarence Thomas Limited, Riteway Supermarket and the Anegada Reef Hotel.
After more than three years of successful operations, and despite strong support from the general public, we were unable to secure agreements with the other major utility companies in the BVI to collect bill payments on their behalf. Unfortunately without the participation of these key organisations, the EasyPay business model is not sustainable in this market.
Since our inception in September, 2011 we have successfully collected almost $1 million on behalf of LIME and Digicel and expanded to serve Virgin Gorda and Anegada through our collection point partners Clarence Thomas Limited and the Anegada Reef Hotel. Despite the challenging economic environment we dared to bring a new and innovative business concept to the BVI providing employment and contributing to the growth of the small business sector while providing a convenient way for consumers to pay their bills. As a locally owned company we are tremendously proud of these achievements.
We take this opportunity to thank the management and staff of LIME BVI and Digicel BVI for the confidence placed in us to collect their bill payments. We also thank Clarence Thomas Limited, Riteway Supermarkets and the Anegada Reef Hotel for their support as collection agents. Finally we would like to thank our valued customers who consistently used EasyPay to pay their bills. We sincerely regret that we will no longer be able to process your payments at our convenient locations after 31st October.
Again we thank all of our partners, suppliers and customers for their support. We are deeply grateful."
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29 Responses to “Non-support of Govt forces EasyPay to close”
The BVIEC is a separate entity with is own board and management.
Perhaps a sound business decision was made that was not in favour of EasyPay, but in favour of the BVIEC. Why is the EC (or even the govt) being blamed for the failure of EasyPay?
In making a business decision, there are a lot of factors to consider, so please do not jump to some conclusion that the BVIEC is at fault here.