A PARTNERSHIP has been struck between allpay.net and Herefordshire Housing to help tenants pay their rent in a more convenient and secure manner.

As from April, all 6,000 Herefordshire Housing tenants will be provided with a personal allpay.net 'swipe card' so they can pay their rent at any post office or any shop displaying the Paypoint and PAYzone logos. They will also be able to settle bills over the phone and on the internet at any hour.

Tony Jaques, chief executive at Herefordshire Housing, said: "We are always looking to improve services and this is an exciting development. We are very conscious of the needs of those tenants who have come to rely on our traditional methods for payment - so we will be looking to reassure all our customers over the next few weeks and provide them with full details of how this service will operate."

Tony Killeen, managing director of allpay.net, explained: "It's great we can work with an association from Herefordshire. We are a national company with more than 450 housing organisations using our services - it is great to be giving something back to the community where allpay.net started and is based."