What Is ME Group International on My Bank Statement?
ME Group International is the company formerly known as Photo-Me. It runs self-service machines — passport photo booths, Revolution Laundry washers, photo kiosks and children's rides — usually sited inside supermarkets, stations and shopping centres.
Why the name means nothing to you: you used a machine, not a shop. The booth stood in a Tesco; the payment went to the company that owns the booth. And the company changed its name from Photo-Me in 2022, so even people who recognised the old name do not recognise this one.
At a glance
- Company
- ME Group International plc
- Formerly
- Photo-Me International
- Renamed
- August 2022
- Head office
- Epsom, Surrey
- Listed
- London Stock Exchange, FTSE 250
- Machines
- Photo booths, laundry, kiosks, rides
Who they are
ME Group International plc, headquartered in Epsom, Surrey, and listed on the London Stock Exchange as a FTSE 250 company. It has been listed since 1962 and operates tens of thousands of automated machines across roughly 18 countries.
It changed its name from Photo-Me International to ME Group in August 2022, reflecting how much of the business had moved beyond photo booths. The UK subsidiary Photo-Me International Limited carries company number 00535600.
What you actually used
- A Photo-Me passport or ID photo booth — the classic one. Passport, driving licence, visa or travel card photos.
- Revolution Laundry — self-service washing machines, often outside supermarkets and petrol stations.
- A photo printing kiosk — printing images from a phone or memory card.
- Amuse.ME children's rides — the small coin or card-operated rides near supermarket entrances.
- Other vending and self-service machines the group operates.
The children's rides are the one people most often fail to place, because a small charge from a ride a toddler sat on for two minutes is not a memorable event.
Working out which machine
The descriptor often carries a location, and that is the quickest clue — it names the site the machine stands in rather than Epsom.
The amount narrows it further. Passport photo booths cost more than a ride; a laundry cycle sits in between. Matching the amount against the machine type usually identifies it on its own.
The date places you at a supermarket, station or shopping centre. If you renewed a passport or driving licence around then, the booth is your answer.
Is it a scam?
No. ME Group is a long-established, publicly listed UK company and the descriptor is legitimate.
The name change from Photo-Me is genuinely the source of most confusion here rather than anything suspicious — an unfamiliar corporate name attached to a machine you used without thinking about who owned it.
If the machine failed
This is common enough with unattended machines to be worth covering: photos that never printed, a washing machine that did not run, a ride that took payment and did nothing.
ME Group handles refunds centrally rather than through the shop the machine sits in — the supermarket cannot help you, because it is not their machine. Contact ME Group customer services directly, quoting the location, date, time and amount.
Keep any receipt or reference the machine produced. Machines log transactions, so a specific time and location makes a refund straightforward.
If you did not use any machine
If nobody in your household used a photo booth, laundry machine or ride, treat it as an unrecognised card payment.
Your bank must refund an unauthorised payment by the end of the next working day, and your liability before you report it is capped at £35. A small charge is not a reason to leave it — low-value transactions are frequently used to test whether stolen card details still work before anything larger is attempted.
- All four agencies: in one report: Experian, Equifax, TransUnion & Crediva
- Spot the errors: and old debts that quietly get applications declined
- It's a soft search: so checking never leaves a mark on your file
- See what lenders see: the same information banks pull when they assess you
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If a refund is refused
Chargeback covers debit and credit cards, usually within 120 days, and "service not provided" is a straightforward basis for it where a machine took payment and delivered nothing.
Section 75 rarely applies here, since it needs a credit card purchase of £100 or more and these charges are almost always smaller.
🛡️ Build your recovery plan
Tick what applies to you. The order below is deliberate: most of these organisations will ask for your Action Fraud reference number, so doing it in this sequence saves you making the same call twice.
Nothing ticked yet: the steps below are the ones that apply to everyone. Tick a box above to add the rest.
- 1
Report it to Action Fraud and get your crime reference number
Action Fraud: the national reporting centre for fraud
- Onlinereportfraud.police.uk
- Phone0300 123 2040
Do this second, and do it before you contact anyone else. Almost every organisation in this list (lenders, credit reference agencies, debt collectors) will ask for the crime reference number Action Fraud gives you, and without it you end up making the same call twice. It also creates the official record you'll rely on if you have to dispute anything later. Expect an update within 28 working days, though that's about the investigation, not about clearing your name; that part is on you and starts now.
Have ready: What happened and roughly when · Any account or reference numbers involved
- 2
Get all three credit reports and read every line
Experian, Equifax and TransUnion
- Experian0800 013 8888
- Equifax0800 014 2955
- TransUnion0330 024 7574
All three, not one. Lenders report to different agencies, so a fraudulent account can sit on one file and be invisible on the others: checking a single report is the most common way people miss the second and third account. You're looking for accounts you didn't open, searches you didn't authorise, and addresses linked to your name that you've never lived at. That last one matters more than it sounds: a linked address you don't recognise is often how the fraud was set up in the first place.
Have ready: Your addresses for the last six years
- 3
Add a CIFAS protective registration
CIFAS: the UK fraud prevention service
- Onlinecifas.org.uk
- Phone0330 460 9601
This puts a warning flag against your name in the National Fraud Database, so member organisations run extra identity checks before granting credit in your name. It costs £30 and lasts two years. It does not affect your credit score, and it doesn't touch accounts you already hold, but it will make your own applications slower, which is the trade-off. If someone has your details, that's usually a trade worth making. Note that not every application is checked against the database, so treat it as a strong deterrent rather than a lock.
- 4
Check you're on the electoral register at the right address
Your local council
A quick one that's worth doing while you're here. The electoral roll is one of the main ways lenders confirm you live where you say you do, and being missing from it both weakens your own applications and makes it easier for someone to claim your identity elsewhere.
- 5
Escalate if you get nowhere
Financial Ombudsman Service, or the ICO
- Financial Ombudsman0800 023 4567
- ICOico.org.uk
If a bank refuses to refund you, or a lender won't remove an entry it has accepted is fraudulent, complain to the firm first and give it eight weeks. After that, or as soon as you get a final response, take it to the Financial Ombudsman. It's free and its decisions bind the firm. Where the argument is specifically about inaccurate data staying on your credit file, the Information Commissioner's Office can also look at it. Both routes cost you nothing.
- 6
Close the door behind you
You
Change passwords on your email account first, not your banking: email is the master key, because it's where password resets land. Turn on two-factor authentication wherever it's offered. If documents were lost or stolen, report the passport or driving licence to the issuing body so it can be flagged. And set a reminder to re-check your credit reports in three months: fraudulent applications sometimes surface long after the original breach.
Contact details and process reflect Action Fraud, CIFAS, the credit reference agencies and National Debtline guidance for England and Wales. Scotland reports fraud through Police Scotland on 101 rather than Action Fraud; the rest of the process is the same. General information, not legal advice: free, independent help is available from National Debtline, Citizens Advice and StepChange.
