Industry First Facilitated for Rontec

AIM: UNG

Universe Group plc

("Universe" or "the Group")

Facility for Charitable Giving is launched with Pennies and Rontec

Universe (AIM:UNG.L), a leading developer and supplier of point of sale, payment and on-line loyalty systems is pleased to announce that it has helped to facilitate an industry first for existing customer, Rontec LLP ("Rontec"), a leading group in the UK petrol forecourt industry, enabling it to provide a new system for charitable giving at the point of sale. 

Rontec, which uses Universe subsidiary htec's new generation card acceptance platform GemPAY, has teamed up with registered charity The Pennies Foundation. The charity's digital charity box system Pennies has now been integrated into the GemPAY platform. This allows Rontec customers when paying by card the option of 'topping up' the sale amount by 25p, making it easy for them to donate to a good cause when purchasing fuel or other goods. GemPAY facilitates the entire process and handles the consolidated reporting of all charitable giving.

Bill Ahearn, Managing Director of Rontec, said:

"Universe has been a trusted payment provider to Rontec for many years and their GemPAY payments platform has given us great flexibility and control. We had no hesitation in trusting them with this sensitive development which has allowed us to achieve an industry first in bringing electronic donations to the forecourt and has already raised thousands of pounds for our chosen charity, the Royal National Institute for the Blind."

Alison Hutchinson, Chief Executive of The Pennies Foundation, said:

"It's fantastic to be working alongside Universe as they make the digital charity box available to even more retailers and their customers. With the help of leading payments specialists like Universe the Pennies movement is growing faster than ever, supporting the vital work of hundreds of UK charities."

Jeremy Lewis, Chief Executive of Universe, added:

"We are delighted to support Pennies and pleased to be involved with a great charity that helps communities across the UK. We hope the admirable example set by Rontec will be followed by many more retailers."

For further information:

About Universe Group plc:

Universe provides some of the world's leading retailers with point of sale, payment and loyalty solutions. The Group's solutions are based on its own proprietary software and are offered out of the Cloud on a software as a service model with its data centres processing in excess of 3 billion transactions every year. For further information, please see www.universeplc.com.

About Rontec LLP:

Rontec is a leading company in the UK independent fuel retailing sector with over 200 forecourts nationwide. Their service station network delivers high quality fuels, extensive convenience shop ranges and premium car wash services. For further information, please see www.rontec.com.

About The Pennies Foundation:

Pennies, the digital charity box, gives customers the option to donate a few pence to charity when paying for goods or services by card. It offers a technology driven solution that is a simple yet effective way of increasing existing charity fundraising activities. The Pennies Foundation has already raised over £3.5 million from micro-donations for more than 100 charities in the UK. For more information, please see www.pennies.org.uk.