Customer experience
July 19, 2023
July 19, 2023

Say Goodbye to The Pain of Legacy Payment Systems

Sharon Holland

Most housing associations strive to provide the best possible services to their customers. From efficient maintenance to creating vibrant communities, they have a solid commitment to offering good service.  However, have you ever considered the impact your payment system has on your customers’ experience?

Some legacy payment systems have been around for years, and are now past their prime.  Times have changed and housing associations need to embrace modern technology and upgrade to a payment system that aligns with the needs and expectations of today's customer. Let's explore why it's crucial for housing associations to move away from legacy payment systems and towards a new era of convenience and efficiency.

Simplify and Streamline Payment Processes

Legacy payment systems are usually linked to a digital portal and often come with convoluted and time-consuming payment processes, transfers to a separate payment system, and long reference numbers to remember.  Your customers deserve a hassle-free experience when paying their rent or service charges. By adopting a modern payment system, you can simplify and streamline these processes, making it easier for customers to manage their finances.

Customers could pay their bills with just a few clicks on their smartphones, using secure and user-friendly interfaces. With a modern digital payment system, you can offer convenient options such as online payments, mobile apps, and open banking.

Enhance Financial Transparency And Build Trust

Transparency is key to building trust with your residents. Legacy systems often lack the necessary tools to provide detailed financial information in real-time. This can lead to confusion, delayed responses to residents' inquiries, and even disputes.

With a modern digital payment systems, you can provide customers with access to their payment history, statements, and outstanding balances instantly.  And if customers call to discuss a payment there is no waiting for an update to happen overnight to see if their payment has been made!

This level of transparency fosters trust, reduces customer stress and relieves the administrative burden on your staff, freeing up valuable time to focus on more impactful tasks.

Boost Security and Data Protection

In an era where cyber threats are prevalent, protecting your residents' sensitive information is paramount. A modern payment system has robust security measures such as encryption, tokenization, and multi-factor authentication.  Customers can progress through ID&V just once, with the authentication following them through to the digital payment system safely and securing to ensure a seamless transaction.  The security features of digital payment platforms, mean every transaction is secure and compliant with industry standards, protecting both the housing association and their customers.

Gain Operational Efficiency and Cost Savings

By transitioning to a digital payment system, you can automate routine payment processes, reducing the need for manual intervention and minimizing human error.

They also offer integration capabilities with your existing systems, such as accounting software and housing management platforms. This integration streamlines workflows, improves data accuracy, and allows your staff to work more efficiently. By optimizing your operations, you can achieve cost savings and redirect resources towards providing better services to customers.

A Chance to Upgrade to Self-Service

Combine a digital payment system with an AI Chatbot or Digital Assistant and you open up a world of other possibilities. A Digital Assistant that integrates with your housing management platform and a modern payment system enables customers to embark on a payment journey that can include ID&V, dynamic look-up of amount owed, take payments through debit/credit card/open banking and confirmation of transaction.

If a payment is declined the system can offer an immediate transfer to a live agent to resolve the issue.  This is all achieved without the need for the customer to repeat their information as the transcript and context are all part of the transfer to an agent.

As everything is integrated the customer can even return to perform other tasks after they have made a payment without the need to log back into a digital portal or authenticate themselves.

Incorporating a new payment system via an AI Chatbot offers the opportunity to upgrade many customer service tasks to self-service options at the same time.

An AI Chatbot offers a whole host of other benefits such as self-service for a number of tasks, so have a look at how Chatbots and Digital Assistants can help a housing association

By embracing a modern payment system serviced through an AI Chatbot or Digital Assistant, customers can now make seamless automated payments through a conversational messaging interface, providing an even more convenient and intuitive payment process.

Don't let outdated payment systems hold you back. Embrace the future of secure digital payments and AI Chatbots and unlock a world of convenience and efficiency for both your customers and your organisation.

More about PCI Pal secure digital payments.

How your housing organisation can benefit from an AI Chatbot or Digital Assistant.

To discuss your options contact us or call us on 0333 6000 360.