It can be challenging to find the right software to streamline payment processes. Lewis McKenna-Crisp tells LocalGov that SmarterPay has the ideal solution for local authorities.

Q: Many councils operate across multiple systems, which presents various challenges. How does SmarterPay's solutions combat those?

SmarterPay offers a universal payments platform which enables councils to streamline their payment processes and reduce the complexity associated with managing separate systems. It is ideal for council tax collections, benefit payments, employee payroll, garden bin collection fees, and much more besides. Some of these payment processes are more relevant to one-off card payments, others may be suitable for a more traditional Direct Debit payment. Often, councils end up with one service provider per payment type which adds complexity to the daily operation. With SmarterPay you don’t need this – we cover card payments, direct debits, direct credits and open banking in a single system.

We can do this thanks to our open Application Programming Interface (API). Our API is able to integrate with not only accounting systems but also – for example – Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. This flexibility means that councils are able to customize and automate their workflows according to their specific needs. So, for example, a council may have one department operating with one system and another department operating with another. Thanks to its open API, SmarterPay enables the council to consolidate their operations into one unified platform.

It's particularly beneficial for finance leaders within local government. Having one unified platform gives them a full overview of what's being submitted from each of the council’s different departments, and it allows them to dictate how each user works depending on their roles and responsibilities.

It's also good from a risk and error prevention perspective. It's really hard and inefficient to try and have eyes over six or seven different systems. It is much easier just to oversee the one platform. I always think one of the best ways of putting it is its one source of truth.

Q: One of the main areas of associated risk is security protection and fraud. What systems are in place with SmarterPay in order to provide protection against fraud?

For starters, SmarterPay enables the segregation of duties. What this means in practice is that each council can dictate the rules and responsibilities that each user has depending on their role within the organisation.

SmarterPay also offers a really unique feature called IP whitelisting, which means the local authority can dictate where a user logs into the platform from. So, if you've got people working remotely and they’re dealing with sensitive data, you don’t want them accessing the platform from, say, a café. IP whitelisting enables the council to ringfence the specific areas where employees can access from.

Furthermore, SmarterPay has a revolutionary open banking hybrid solution for direct debits called SmarterPay Secure Signup. This new solution uses open banking account information services (AIS) to check bank account details and ownership by taking the customer to their bank account to verify their identity. This really is next level fraud prevention.

One of the other elements SmarterPay has to offer is modulus checking, an essential part of our fraud and error prevention offer. This means that when each payment file is processed it matches the account number and sort code against the directory to make sure that it's valid.

Of course, there are other security functionalities built in as well, such as multi-factor authentication, the ability to set approval permissions, and secure sign up, an open banking solution that allows a council to verify someone’s account when they sign up for a direct debit.

Q: In such a small but competitive market, how does SmarterPay deliver cost effectiveness for organisations using SmarterPay’s platform?

The functionality and security requirements of our solution are important factors, but price is a competitive standpoint. A large portion of the scoring criteria comes down to pricing when dealing with the public sector.

So, we actually offer two pricing models. One is transaction based and the other is workflow based. It's a fixed cost per annum with a certain amount of transactions included and the price is dependent on the complexity of the workflows. It means that the actual price depends on the way you're working. Put another way, it means you're getting a cost-effective solution depending on the simplicity of it.

A lot of BACS software providers charge on a transaction banding basis, which means your bill might vary month to month, whereas we offer a fixed cost throughout the entire contract length. And it means that you've got full visibility as a public sector organization of your outgoing costs throughout the duration of that contract.

Essentially, SmarterPay is a UK-based provider that aligns strategy through BAU busness reviews and forecasts, and has the independence, agility and ability to deliver bespoke systems.

Q: There are a few examples of where SmarterPay works with local councils. What are your most successful stories?

Torbay Council has been with us for more than four years now. With a monthly payroll of £2.5m, a secure and reliable BACs solution was essential. They adopted SmarterPay On Premise but after an incident due to severe weather which restricted physical access to the council’s premises, they moved over to SmarterPay Cloud and were very pleased with the results. Surrey County Council is another great success story. Again, they have been with us for over four years.

I think these long-running partnerships are really testament to just how much we service public sector organisations. Why? Well, its about our competitive pricing, functionality and security. But ultimately, I think it comes back to the first question. It’s the fact that SmarterPay offers a universal payments platform which councils can use to streamline their payment processes and reduce complexity. It’s that simple.

This article was sponsored by SmarterPay.