One of the most long-standing pain points plaguing government agencies is the customer experience. Payment processing is an integral part of the customer experience, which is why it’s more important than ever to approach payment solutions in a modern, seamless manner.
Even if government organizations attempt to streamline their payment processes, the options for doing so are limited. The hunt for secure government payment solutions can be a difficult one.
Pandemic Response
The COVID-19 pandemic made it even harder for government organizations to simplify payment processing. The pandemic disrupted nearly every aspect of how society functions and forced many organizations across almost every industry to develop a new normal. This accelerated the digital transformation that was already rapidly developing.
Digital payment technologies are increasingly prevalent in government organizations. We’ve seen more relaxed digital payment regulations, meaning various government departments can improve customer experience by offering flexible solutions. To meet the demands of response efforts, digital payment platforms became necessary.
Departments that can benefit from implementing a digital payment platform include:
- Law enforcement
- Parks and recreation
- City halls (managing utilities)
- City civics (managing athletics)
If you’re seeking electronic government payment solutions, you’ll find essentially all the best options here at CORE — and options are aplenty. We’re going to break down the benefits, review top options for implementation, and discuss the reasons having a customer portal will drastically improve the experience for your constituents.
The Benefits of Customer Payment Portals
As public sector organizations, government agencies share many of the same challenges as private businesses. That being said, they also have unique requirements and responsibilities. Government agencies must be responsive to taxpayers who hold them accountable in ways private companies don’t need to deal with.
And while we know the solution you choose has to fit your specifications and integration needs, we also know how concerned you are with creating a stellar experience for your customers.
5 Key Benefits for Constituents
There is a growing expectation for modern, convenient interactions with state and local government agencies for your constituents. Implement a digital payment portal to accommodate for this and provide the most convenient solutions.
The benefits for constituents include:
- Remove the need to drive to an office and pay in person.
- Reduction of wait times in offices.
- Free up employees to focus on the needs of those in the office.
- Added flexibility increases trust and confidence in an organization.
- Automated systems make it easy to trigger payment reminders.
6 Key Benefits for Government Organizations
For government agencies, there are several advantages to prioritizing the customer experience. You already know the importance of streamlining the experience for your constituents, but digital payment portals come with a bonus set of benefits for organizations.
- Electronic payments take less time than waiting on paper checks to clear.
- Employees are freed up to focus on other initiatives.
- You can speed up the process without sacrificing security.
- Metrics and reporting allow for increased visibility.
- Reports allow you to forecast the future.
- There’s less room for error in accounting and reconciliation.
4 Secure Government Payment Portal Solutions
If you’re interested in implementing a customer payment portal for your government agency, the best options include a solution that prioritizes:
- Automation
- Convenience
- Modern processes
- Accuracy
- Security
Here are four of the best electronic government payment solutions for customer payment portals.
1. Sourcewell
Sourcewell is CORE’s solution partner for fee management and online payment portals. They offer competitive purchasing power for government, education, and non-profit organizations. They provide products and services that include:
- Inbound revenue management
- Integrated POS system
- Citizen engagement
- Frictionless eCommerce
- Merchant services
- Payment processing
- Revenue automation
- Self-service digital payments
- Optimize inbound collections
- Bank reconciliation
- Analytics and reporting
This all-in-one, secure solution can offer the convenience and efficiency your organization needs.
2. EBPP
EBPP stands for electronic bill presentment and payment, and it’s a great way to reduce friction in the payments process. CORE’s EBPP solution provides an enriched self-service customer engagement platform.
It integrates fully with other billing systems and offers a convenience that other platforms struggle to match. You can offer a comprehensive range of payment channels, including (but not limited to):
- Kiosks
- Online portals
- IVR
- Mobile
- Text-2-Pay
Rather than cluttering the system with 20 different payment options, CORE’s EBPP solution streamlines the process and makes it easy to gain visibility over all channels. This all-in-one hosting solution facilitates the security, seamless integration, and ease you’re looking for.
3. IVR
IVR stands for “interactive voice response,” which means that it’s an automated, over-the-phone payment processing system. You can use an IVR system seven days a week, 24 hours a day. This can reduce the strain on your staff that comes from being flooded with calls.
4. Text-2-Pay
Text-2-Pay is a newer mobile payment processing solution that’s gaining a lot of traction. It works by texting a link to your mobile phone number, which takes you to a secure online payment portal.
Find Customer Payment Portal Solutions with CORE
Billing and payment is the most frequent customer touch point today for public sector organizations such as government agencies and private companies. Providing modern, streamlined, and secure payment processing solutions is more essential than ever. Customer payment portals are a way to bring added ease and accuracy to your system while improving the customer experience.
CORE is a leading government payment solution provider. We offer not only flexible payment options but also unparalleled security. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help elevate your organization’s billing systems.
