The company's Operations Update dated 02/02/17, highlighted that with demonetisation of old bank notes, bill payment transactions increased by 32% for the quarter. That 32% growth figure for that quarter is not a metric I'm placing little attention on. What this highlights is that the new government policy changes have had a positive effect on TSI's bill payment business. It highlighted that people were queuing to clear old dues and make advance payments using the old notes. So what we can take from this is that people were queuing up at physical Kiosks. So, has this eased off since February this year if the macro environment is begining to stabilise? Probably so.
What we also don't know is what OTHER percentage bills have been paid via on hardware devices i.e. (kiosks, mobile phones, tablets etc), via what payment method (cash, cheque or cards) where (utilities, insurance companies, telcos, banks etc) and what kind of revenue this business is generating. If that 32% bill pay rise was via their 400 odd physical Kiosks for the quarter, could that percentage have increased since if payments were made via other hardward devices? Again, many unknowns still. But let's just put aside our frustrations re company communication for a moment. Why else might there not be more colour around the bill payment side of business? Could it be for competitive reasons? If we go back to the Operations Update dated 02/05/16, you will note that on page 7 it highlighted that the company own and operate a network of bill payment machines and that these machines facilitate bill payments in excess of 850,000 people per month. The keyword here is 'machines'. The only machines that I can think of is Kiosks. That was over a year ago now. They now have payment solutions that enable users to make cash, cheque or card payments using kiosk terminals, mobile phones or tablets. So has this 850,000 number increased? That we don't know, but what we do know, is that more options for bill payments are available now, so let's see if they do provide a little more colour around this business.
P.S. Take note of what the company highlighted from the Motilal Report on page 7 of the announcement dated 02/05/16 below. That's a big universe worth exploring!
References:
http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20170202/pdf/43fr2w4bsqsww0.pdf
http://www.asx.com.au/asxpdf/20160502/pdf/436ykfjrnbyg1y.pdf
Tony
