Ireland's Payzone has confirmed it is being sued by UK motorway service station operator Welcome Break in a dispute over ATM maintenance targets and charges made to customers for cash machine withdrawals.
Payzone unit Cardpoint supplies ATMs at 28 Welcome Break service stations. Customers are charged £1.85 for each withdrawal, of which Cardpoint is supposed to give Welcome Break 97 pence.
Under the deal, Cardpoint is also required to maintain machines, keeping them well stocked and online.
But, according to a Daily Mail report, Welcome Break is now suing the ATM provider, claiming targets were not met between April and June 2008 and it is owed £691,000 in penalties. In addition, it's claiming money for failed targets up to January this year and interest of more than £150 a day.
In a statement to the stock exchange responding to the Mail story, Payzone says the matter is sub judice but it is advised that the "amount at risk, if any, is not material to the Company".
The lawsuit is the latest in a litany of setbacks for Payzone since it was created by the merger of Ireland's Alphyra and British ATM operator Cardpoint in late 2007.
Last January the company's shares were suspended just six weeks after listing on the London AIM market following a power struggle that saw former CEO John Nagle and CFO John Williamson ousted from the board.
Shares resumed trading in May but have plummeted in value. They are currently worth 1.38 pence, compared to a year high of 47.75 pence.
Welcome Break sues in ATM row - Daily Mail