Simplifica Under Tender

In Search of Hope – by Sam Gannon

Seconded to the parish of Tililngdon, the Reverend Dolores has been presented with a challenge.

She’s living in an antiquated house and she’s cold. Furthermore, her new Bishop, Bishop Alice does not approve of ‘showgirls in dog collars.’

Determined to prove the Bishop wrong, she sets about warming her house – who cares if it smells of horse! There is the crochet club, jumble sale, and soup run to organise. And this year, the church bells will ring, no matter what threats are made. Even more so, the newly formed choir will spread a little joy this Christmas, even though they can’t sing – yet! And with a little help from Phil, her bassist, this year could be full of magic.

However, she has a fight on her hands as the townies out in Knob Hill – she must stop calling it that, are trying to stop her from ringing her bells. When Krystal with a K decides to do some volunteer work, Dolores sets out to see just how committed she really is.

Up to her ears in granny squares and squawking choristers, Dolores is revving up for Christmas, yet a deeper darker secret is beginning to emerge!

A secret that could blow the whole parish apart and put Dolores in danger.

(available from Amazon)

The Regional Government has launched an international public tender with a maximum contract value of €4.32 million over three years for the provision of electronic payment management services across the Simplifica portal and other Regional Public Administration systems.

The tender, issued by the Agency for Innovation and Modernisation of the Autonomous Region of Madeira (AIM), seeks a provider to process payments made through a range of electronic methods, including Multibanco, debit and credit cards, MB Way, point-of-sale (POS) terminals, Google Pay and Apple Pay.

According to the tender specifications, the contract will run for 36 months or end earlier if the maximum contractual value of €4.32 million is reached. The contract value was established following a preliminary market consultation and is based on the volume of transactions currently processed.

The tender documents indicate that, based on data from May 2026, the system handled around 214,000 transactions per month across all payment methods. Bank cards accounted for the largest share of transactions, followed by Apple Pay, physical POS terminals, Google Pay, MB Way and Multibanco.

Based on these figures, the platform could process close to 7.7 million payment transactions over the three-year contract period. However, the specifications note that these figures are estimates and could rise or fall depending on the number of public services using the platform.

Bidders will compete primarily on the commissions they charge for processing payments. Maximum commission limits have been set for each payment method and transaction value, with pricing allowed to consist of either a fixed fee or a combination of fixed and variable charges, depending on the payment type.

In addition to processing payments, the successful bidder will be required to provide an integrated platform for transaction monitoring, financial reconciliation and reporting, while ensuring high standards of security, system availability and service continuity.

The contract will cover payments made through the Simplifica portal as well as other Regional Government systems that accept electronic payments. It also allows for additional public services to join the platform during the life of the contract.

Interested companies have until August the 28th to submit their proposals.

Samantha Gannon

info at madeira-weekly.com