45% of businesses say that slow payment completion times are a major pain point. Likely the same is true for government organizations. There is a simple solution that rectifies this issue—streamline the bill payment system and process.
Payment processing is a critical part of the customer experience. For government organizations, it’s essential that citizens feel the process of making payments is simple, flexible, and secure.
Despite how critical this initiative is, creating a bill payment system that ticks all boxes comes with its own set of challenges. Frequent obstacles that stand in the way include:
- Inefficient systems
- Human error
- Lack of optimization
- Compliance issues
Paper systems come with many caveats and risks in today’s digital era. While many government agencies may still rely on traditional processes, digital payment systems are a “tried and true” method for everyone, from urban, bustling city offices to constituents living in rural areas,far and wide.
Still, that’s not to say all digital billing systems are created equal. Many of them come with downsides that may dissuade organizations from opting in. Finding the perfect bill payment system can be an extensive process.
This article will dive into the three major pain points of bill payment systems (traditional and digital alike) and give you some direction for discovering your perfect fit.
3 Major Pain Points of eBilling
When you first foray into digital payment systems, a few pain points arise related to user experience. These pain points are universal, meaning they transcend any one management platform.
In searching for the perfect solution, look for a payment processing and revenue management platform that offers reliable fixes for these three pain points.
Pain Point #1: Disconnected & Manual Processes
In a survey, researchers found that out of the hundreds of businesses participating, one-third (34%) of payment operations are still manual.
The same study also found that 51% of financial leads report their teams are wasting lots of time (eight hours a week on average) on payment operations issues. This included problems like slow payments, payment errors, and poor reconciliation processes. On top of that, nearly half of the surveyed companies reported having five or more bank accounts with no integrated management solution.
What do these numbers tell us? Many companies and organizations are still operating off of disconnected, manual systems. A fragmented experience can make for frustrated citizens. If your constituents don’t understand your payment system and get lost along the way, it increases the chances of late or missed payments.
Once your payment processing system starts interrupting your cash flow, that’s when you’ll start feeling the pain of needing a great platform.
In contrast, consistency can be a game-changer. Once you provide convenient and consistent payment processing experience, you’ll build more trust with your constituents and make it more enticing to pay on time. An automated payment system can help with this initiative and provide additional convenience.
The risk of manual data entry is a tale as old as time, but it’s especially relevant when talking about billing and finances. If one number is entered incorrectly, it can throw off an entire reporting and accounting system. This is where an integrated payment system can elevate the internal experience. By connecting your payment processor and revenue management system to the other back-end tools, you increase visibility and control.
Pain Point #2: Unmanaged Risk & Inconsistent Compliance
If there’s one thing that is essential to payment processing, it’s security. If your platform can’t offer adequate compliance, safety, and fraud protection, you’re putting yourself and your constituents at risk.
Depending on your industry, a payment processor should be PCI, HIPAA, and SaaS compliant.
Monitoring Compliance and Mitigating Risks
Many organizations want to monitor spending to ensure that all purchases are policy-compliant. This is especially true for government agencies that have to adhere to strict protocols. A digital payment processing platform can offer the kind of visibility into these activities to help ensure compliance across the board.
Offering Strong Fraud Protection
Fraud protection is another critical component of a sound revenue management system. There are a variety of scams floating around on the internet, and the last thing you want is to risk your agency or your citizens’ sensitive financial data. A secure platform can protect all parties involved.
Opt for a payment processor and revenue management platform that:
- enhances security
- gives detailed reporting history
- remains integrated and transparent
Doing this will outfit your organization with a modern, automated solution.
Pain Point #3: A Disappointing Customer Experience
There has never been a point in history where customer expectations were higher than they are now. Regardless of tender type or channel, it’s crucial to meet the expectations of your constituents. People expect specific payment channels to be seamless, including online payment portals, mobile payments, and over-the-phone payments.
Other channels may also be productive to implement into your organization. These can include text-2-pay, IVR, self-service portals, and automatic payments. The mutual benefit of offering flexible payment options to your customers is a sped-up version of the billing process.
Allowing citizens to choose their preferred payment channel will go a long way in increasing the convenience of the process. The more convenient it is for citizens to pay, the more likely they are to pay on time.
Why CORE?
By now, you have a good understanding of many government organizations’ pain points when looking for an integrated payment system. The reality is: You need one that ticks all the boxes.
CORE is a payment solution, revenue management, and consumer engagement software in one convenient platform. CORE was founded to serve the modern enterprise, and our goal is to deliver a seamless payment system, facilitate revenue management, and strengthen consumer engagement.
Today, more than 1,600 organizations use CORE daily. The enterprise landscape is rapidly changing. A strong focus on empowering digital-ready experiences continues to sweep across industries and organizations. It fundamentally changes how you enable more reliable, sustainable, and secure revenue management and customer engagement solutions.
Many government organizations are trying to patch together various solutions, data sources, and strategies. The harsh truth is that, ultimately, they’re failing to create a cohesive, correct process.
That’s where CORE comes in. We believe you can thrive in today’s “Experience Era” by modernizing connected experiences between local government and its citizens.
CORE provides a way for you to match the speed of the evolving consumer experience without sacrificing control by:
- Inciting immediacy through anytime, anywhere access
- Enabling visibility into every step of payment and engagement activities
Powerful Integrations
We created our integrations through thoughtful, strategic consideration. Our software powerfully integrates with the tools, software, ERPs, and financial systems your enterprise leverages daily. It allows you to work off one platform for all your revenue management needs. It’s also an integrated platform, which means it connects to your existing front and back office tools.
Safe and Secure Platform
CORE utilizes role-based security to keep your intellectual capital safe. We ensure information only goes into the systems it should while providing access only to the people who should have it. As an enterprise-class application, we designed CORE to support industry and regulatory requirements for compliance, data privacy, and information security. Our solution is SaaS, PCI, and HIPAA compliant.
Who Should Use CORE?
As stated above, CORE is committed to providing efficient, useful, and powerful payment processing and revenue management services to enterprise organizations. We primarily serve the higher education, healthcare, and government sectors.
Government organizations can benefit from CORE’s highly secure, easy-to-operate, and compliant platform. Whether you’re coming from a small government agency or a large-scale organization, CORE can provide an enterprise-level solution to your payment processing and revenue management woes.
If you’re ready to take your customer engagement levels to new heights and accurately manage your revenue, reach out to us today and let’s have a conversation.
eBilling Pain Point Solution Resources for Local Government Agencies and Municipalities
As a government agency, learning the ins and outs of payment processing is probably low on your priority list. The reality is, though, that it is more important than ever to meet your constituents where they are.
The demand for integrated payment systems is extremely high and only continues to grow. From small agencies to departments in large government organizations, the design of your payment system can make or break the overall journey for your citizens.
One common complaint from organizations trying to figure out how to elevate this experience is that the world of payment processing is complicated, tedious, and confusing. The word “complex” is often used when diving into research and discovering a solution.
If you feel like your organization is struggling to combat the pain points associated with your payment system, you’ve come to the right place. We provide EBPP pain point solution resources for government agencies and departments.
Stumbling across insufficient resources on the internet doesn’t do much for government organizations that are experiencing the unique challenges of running a government agency or department. CORE is a leading provider of specialized, targeted content for government organizations. Below, you’ll find a list of our most recommended resources for further reading on everything we’ve covered in this article.
Other Government Payment Resources
- What is Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP)?
- The Ultimate Payment Constituent Experience Questionnaire
- How to Reduce the Risk of Non or Default Payments for Government Customers
- How Can Automated Payment Reconciliation Help Your Revenue Management?
- How Does Technology Increase Efficiency in Your Organization?
- How to Improve Government Payments with EBPP (Electronic Billing Presentment and Payment)
- How to Supercharge Your Revenue Management
- Revenue Management Challenges That You Can Overcome
