WEXFORD COUNTY COUNCIL - NEW ONLINE PAYMENT PORTAL

Wexford County Council - new Online Payment Portal

Wexford County Council has been using XRS Collector, a Debt Management System, since 2020. It has revolutionised the day-to-day operations of the Credit Control section through the scheduling and prioritisation of daily workloads. It greatly facilitated both customers and staff during the pandemic. It is expected to handle more than 65,000 transactions in 2022. Wexford County Council launched a new online Payment Portal on the 27th of September 2022. The portal is simple to use. Registration takes less than five minutes. The portal can be used to view account information, to pay, and make flexible payment plans and tailored solutions for Housing Rents, Commercial Rates, Mortgages, Fire Charges, Marina Fees & Planning Development Levies. Account holders can now access their account information in a safe and secure environment at a time convenient to them. This Payment Portal provides easy access via multi devices and is smart-phone friendly. The design and layout of the portal mirrors existing online financial service portals for ease of access for customers. Research carried out by Manchester Credit Union has shown that: • 75% of customers prefer to resolve debt online rather than talk to an agent. • 88% of traffic to self service portals are from a mobile device. • 46% of portal activity occurs outside regular business hours. The software for this Payment Portal is provided by Expert Revenue Systems Ltd (XRS). XRS is a 100% Irish owned company, based in Dublin. This system complies with all Central Bank requirements for financial systems.

The benefits to the account holder are:

• Simple to use. • 24/7 on-line access from a mobile device, computer or tablet to account information allowing the customer to do business at a time that suits them. • View account balance and transaction history online. • Ability to make a payment immediately or set up a weekly/fortnightly/monthly recurring card payment plan. • Card Payments are more economical that Bank Standing Orders. • Access to information/upload documents. • Request a call back at a time that suits them. It provides a safe low-cost communication channel to customers and is time efficient. The model is similar to other industry standard portals like the Revenue Services MyAccount, Electric Ireland etc. Annette OʼNeill, Head of Finance, said “We are delighted to introduce this new payment portal as we are strongly committed to delivering efficient, quality services to meet the needs of our citizens. By giving our citizens expanded payment options, we strive to make it easier and more convenient for account holders to keep their accounts up to date.” The portal enables Wexford County Council to use its resources to address non-compliant customers while allowing all customers increased flexibility to manage their account. The current BillPay system will cost Wexford County Council approximately €120,000 in 2022. The portal will help to significantly reduce this. Furthermore, we will make savings in postage and printing costs of approximately €60,000. This will also help us to reduce our environmental footprint. The reception to the portal has been very positive with both the elected representatives and the public.

We in Wexford County Council seek continuous improvements in our public service, our efficiency and effectiveness through innovation and technology. Such improvements will give the public a better customer experience and a more economical service delivery model.