Paying rates at newsagencies
Long queues at Municipal Offices for the payment of rates and other Council services may be a thing of the past.
Woolcott Research 2003 identified that newsagencies are visited by 70% of Australians at least once a fortnight. Newsagencies are the major participants in the national payment collection network, Bill EXPRESSTM. The network also includes a self-serve kiosk in Coles Supermarkets.
Gold Coast City Council and the City of Casey, two of the largest municipalities in the nation were quick off the mark to see Bill EXPRESSTM as a national opportunity for ratepayer convenience for payment of an assortment of Council dues. Bill EXPRESSTM is an in person bill payment network designed to assist in reducing bill payment queues at Council service counters.
Julian Little, Strategic Development Director, explains, “No matter what the bill is – rates, water, infringements, dog registration or debtors and sundries to name a few – payment can be made during the resident’s normal shopping activities”.
Councils join Bill EXPRESS
Assisting Local Government to deliver Best Practice, Bill EXPRESSTM is the second only ever national bill payment network that serves the 50% of customers who still prefer to pay their accounts in person.
Utilising newsagencies, Bill EXPRESSTM has been designed to lighten the load for Councils, by reaching residents where they are most likely to be found and assisting to reduce bill payment queues at Councils themselves.
Bill EXPRESSTM is specifically designed to take advantage of the often overlooked hub of local communities, the newsagencies. Newsagents are visited by 70% of Australians at least once a fortnight (Woolcott Research 2003). By tapping into this existing traffic flow, Bill EXPRESSTM has created a system for ratepayers to pay their accounts, in person, as they purchase their daily newspaper, weekly lottery ticket or monthly magazine.
People are now able to pay Council bills, like Gold Coast City Council or City of Casey, and other bills, like Optus or Sydney Water, just to name a few.
Payments can be made at any participating newsagency Australia-wide. There are already 800 newsagencies in operation nationally and the network is growing. Payments can be made by cash, credit or debit card (tender types are set by the Council), and a printed receipt is issued to the customer. Acceptance of cheques will be launched in time for Councils next rating period.
The payment information is transferred to the Bill EXPRESSTM host in real time, which means no matter where the person payment is made, it is able to be viewed immediately by the Council via the Bill EXPRESSTM secure Biller login website. This represents Best Practice for management of payment collection customer service issues.
Bill EXPRESSTM is accessing the billing relationships established by Coles Myer, in having purchased the ServiceATM® network (self service bill payment kiosks) in over 450 Coles Supermarkets across Australia. Bill EXPRESSTM has entered into a strategic alliance with the Australian Newsagents’ Federation (ANF).
“The newsagency industry has had a long desire to implement an over the counter bill payment service as an extension of our current services to the Australian community,” said Paul Waite, CEO of ANF. “Bill EXPRESSTM is now live and operational within the newsagency industry, providing the Australian public with a more convenient and appealing bill payment destination nationally.”
Julian Little, Strategic Development Director for Bill EXPRESSTM explains, “Reducing Councils’ cost to serve, whilst enhancing Councils’ customer service proposition is fundamental to our offer. This platform was developed in Australia to assist organisations like Local Government in their strive for Best Practice in account payment collections.
“This may go some way towards explaining the early adoption of this service by seven Councils, given that marketing to Councils has only recently begun.”
Ron Kennedy, Coordinator of Credit Management, Gold Coast City Council, has supported the Bill EXPRESSTM scheme from its inception, and considers it as a valuable tool in lightening the load for Councils at their own Customer Service Centres.
“Gold Coast City Council was pleased to be able to offer our customers another convenient method of paying their rate bill. Bill EXPRESSTM facilitated the implementation of this payment option in a professional and efficient manner, ” he said.
City of Casey Director Corporate Services, Geoff Cockram, said as Casey was Victoria’s largest and fastest growing municipality it was good customer service to provide a range of bill payment options for so many residents. “The City of Casey is utilising this great opportunity, as it is another way the Council can improve services for residents. Casey has seven convenient payment options, but this new system is significant for the Council as it will allow residents to pay their bills over the counter at a handy location,” Geoff Cockram said.
Bill EXPRESSTM is a national payment collection network, and is committed to ensuring all geographic gaps are covered; no matter how small the geographic reach or the population size of the individual Council.
“This is just the beginning of a suite of services which are all about delivering economies of scale for revenue collection to local Councils. In person payments complement the ‘white branded’ IVR and Internet payment channels we can provide to Councils, again reducing their cost to serve by receiving one file and one funds settlement for all three payment channels, if they choose,” said Julian Little.
* Copy supplied by Bill EXPRESSTM
