Capita’s software services business has secured a contract to provide a comprehensive payment management solution across six neighbouring councils in Staffordshire, making it Capita’s highest number of local authority customers sharing a payments service. Led by Staffordshire County Council, the four year agreement will see Capita implement a solution across the participating authorities. This will allow the councils to efficiently and cost effectively manage income from a wide range of council services. Payments will be received through a variety of channels including over the internet, telephone and face to face.
The authorities that will benefit from the shared service are:
- Staffordshire County Council
- Cannock Chase District Council
- Lichfield District Council
- Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council
- Stafford Borough Council
- Staffordshire Moorlands District Council
By sharing the solution, the councils will benefit from lower card processing costs and reduced running costs because they will have fewer payments systems to maintain. The reduced volume of hardware, including servers, will also boost their green credentials.
Capita was the first to market in the public sector with a fully PCI DSS and PA-DSS compliant payment management solution. These credentials will provide the authorities and their citizens with peace of mind that all payments are processed in the most secure manner.
Capita’s reputation in the market was clear,” said Jo FitzPatrick, category manager, Staffordshire County Council. “Its software already supports payment operations at nine shared services over 31 organisations throughout the UK, so we knew that they had the experience and expertise to get us up and running to tight timescales and provide a solution flexible enough to manage our future growth in a secure way.”
Chris Cooper, operations director at Capita’s software services business, said: “Our experience has shown that shared services are a proven way for councils to share not only the costs of delivering a service but also best practice, while maintaining, and often improving, the quality of service for citizens. Self-service payment methods - be they over the telephone, online or by text - have changed the way in which people make payments. They speed up revenue collection for organisations, while customers benefit from more choice in the way they can make payments.”
Capita’s solution includes a number of payment options:
- Face-to-face – using card, cash or cheque.
- Online – via a secure web page.
- By telephone – using an automated service.
- In a contact centre – extending to any authorised member of staff with browser access.
- Income management - controlling, reconciling and reporting on income collected.