Payments company reports full-year loss ahead of merger

The Irish Payments Services Organisation (IPSO) slipped into the red in what is set to be its final full year as a standalone body.

IPSO recorded a deficit of €117,442 for the 12 months to the end of November 2013 compared with a surplus of €31,918 in the previous year.

The organisation will be formally merged this week with the Irish Banking Federation (IBF) into a new body, the Banking and Payments Federation Ireland.

Work on the merger has been under way for a number of months with the new body led by IBF chief executive Noel Brett. The bodies share office space on Nassau Street in Dublin.

IPSO posted a 30 per cent rise in income last year to just under €1.6 million but its expenditure increased by almost 44 per cent to €1.7 million. Its costs last year included €466,275 spent on “special projects”.

The organisation closed the year with reserves of €403,674, down from €521,116 in the previous reporting period.

Payroll costs for its nine management and staff amounted to €813,280 last year. This compared with €788,465 for the seven management and staff in 2012. The payroll costs last year included director’s remuneration of €176,382.