Hamilton City Council is very aware that the increasing costs to Council get passed on to our ratepayers in the form of rates increases. However, ratepayers have had few options for payment, with limited visibility and flexibility. The Payable project delivered an innovative, integrated digital payment solution, designed to enable our ratepayers to effortlessly set up and manage their rates payments, while significantly reducing the manual data entry and processing, currently required by a small number of specialised rates staff.

Improved Customer Experience

Our ratepayers can now access their payment requirements through the Council branded Payble web app. Customer access is authenticated via a QR code on the rates invoice where they are then able unlock a range of flexible options.

With additional payment options and an enhanced user experience, Hamilton City Council are demonstrating to our ratepayers that we acknowledge the pressures that will come with large rates increases and are supporting through offering better payment solution and customer experience. We have unlocked Functions:

View balances and create a payment schedule to ensure rates are paid for the year.

Choice - any day of the week to suit a ratepayers timing and budgeting.

Schedule payments via a bank account (like traditional direct debit) or now via credit card.

Skip payments as required, which automatically recalculates the new payment amount over the remaining period of the schedule.

No more post! – By registering a mobile number, the ratepayers will receive SMS of upcoming and successful payments, payment issues, (with the ability to easily self-manage), and any recalculation of a scheduled amount.

The introduction of automated SMS is a significant improvement, saving on time, effort and internal costs, otherwise required for manual post or email.

The flexible nature of the payment options also greatly helps our customer service and rating staff when having rates affordability discussions directly with ratepayers.

The introduction of Payble has enhanced internal processes by minimising manual data entry through integration and offering an administrative interface to keep property and rates systems up to date. Customer entered direct debits have replaced website and paper forms and notifications are now sent through automated email and SMS.

Great outcomes for Council

The introduction of Payble has enhanced internal processes by minimising manual data entry through integration and offering an administrative interface to keep property and rates systems up to date.

The overall management of direct debit for Councils is highly manual, with significant data entry, the requirement to generate confirmation letters or emails, as well as running transactional processes regularly, then submitting files to the bank. Once our existing direct debit customers either proactively switch to unlock the benefits of our new platform, and after our wider migration activities, this all changes.

Typically, it has been the same specialised rates staff that has had to manage the increase in these manual functions, often taking away from other important processes which supports Council rates collection, cashflow, and revenue outcomes.

We are making it easier to pay rates, with more effective communication to our ratepayers, providing real time information and the ability to self-manage.

Where rates were to remain unpaid, the rates team will be better positioned to allocate resourcing to focus on rates collection activities, as well as other specialised high value add functions.

Scan the QR code or click here to try the demo and see for yourself! This is just a glimpse of what the product offers and was an example we used to brief our elected members as we implemented the project.