Financial Directors' Drive to Cut Costs and Boost Efficiency Puts Direct Debit Limited's PayCentre in Demand

LONDON, January 17, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Direct Debit Limited, the payments-management software provider, saw impressive growth in demand for its PayCentre ( http://www.directdebit.com/downloads/Pay_Centre_eBrochure.pdf) platform in 2010. The company signed 54 new clients last year, including lucrative contracts with Unipart Merchandiseand Eazy Collect, a Direct Debit collection bureau.

Direct Debit Limited increased new business by 158% in 2010 and orders for PayDirect ( http://www.directdebit.com/products_and_services/software/pay_direct), the company's online bureau service, increased by 94%. Last year, also saw the company build strong relationships with four major high street banks, which enablesit to better understand the banks' clients and deliver effective software to them. During the same period, Direct Debit Limited's training academy gave its 600th Direct Debit course. The academy has now trained over 3,500 people.

ThePayCentre ( http://www.directdebit.com/downloads/Pay_Centre_eBrochure.pdf) platform automates and streamlines credit and debit card, Direct Debit and Direct Credit payments processes for businesses, public-sector organisations and charities, via a single user interface. With cost cutting and efficiency top of mind across all sectors, the modular payments-management platform has seen great take up, as companies look to reduce the administration burden associated with processing payments.

"2010 was a challenging period for companies across allindustries, so we are delighted to report such a successful year," said Paul Conway, Sales Director at Direct Debit Limited. "We pride ourselves on building strong relationships with our clients, banks and industry peers and look forward to continuing this in 2011. In fact, we will be announcing an exciting new partnership in the next couple of weeks."

Last year, Direct Debit Limited added several new modules to PayCentre (http://www.directdebit.com/downloads/Pay_Centre_eBrochure.pdf), includingone for processing Faster Payments and a module to support SEPA and SWIFT transactions. The company also added aHardware Security Module (HSM) fororganisations that process large numbers of transactionsand want to submit payment files to Bacs automatically.

About Direct Debit Limited

Direct Debit Limited is a leading provider of Bacs-approved payments-management software and services. For more than 20 years, the company has helped organisations collect and make payments more efficiently with its specialist software, hosted services, consultancy and training.

Direct Debit Limited's expertise originated in Bacstel-IP software and grew to include systems that manage Automated Direct Debit Instruction Service (AUDDIS) and Paperless Direct Debit processes. Most recently, the company has developed a payments platform that automates Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) transactions. This builds on Direct Debit Limited's long-standing interest in European payments, which saw it set up the European Direct Debit Association in 2005.

As a Bacs affiliate, Direct Debit Limited has a say in the future of electronic payments in the UK and benefits from the latest industry information. This allows the company to respond quickly to changes in the industry with innovative products.

For more information on Direct Debit Limited, please visit http://www.directdebit.com.

If you would like to speak with a Direct Debit Limited executive or require further press information please contact Metia:

    
    Zoe Grayston, +44(0)20-3100-3607
    Caroline Beer, +44(0)20-3100-3796
    Email: ddl@metia.com