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Simplifying payments for the last 30 years.
Welcome to the second edition of The Future of Payments, your guide to keep you informed and inspired in the world of payments and technology, based on our 30 years of industry knowledge.
What's in this issue?
In this issue, we explore innovations, insights, and sustainable practices shaping the industry. Get ready to dive into the latest updates from our Payments Hub, discover how we empower businesses through seamless payments, and gain valuable insights from our Head of Product, Mike Doherty, on the evolving landscape of payment processing. Additionally, learn about our recent achievement of the Mastercard Sustainability Badge and catch a glimpse of our upcoming events, including Housing 2024.
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We're committed to providing you with innovative solutions that meet your evolving needs.
Over the past six months, we've been working hard to enhance your experience with the Payments Hub, ensuring that managing your organisation's financial transactions is smoother and more efficient than ever before.
We've created new ways to manage your organisation, updated error handling in Direct Debits, completed the Call Masking integration, migrated all users off WebConnect onto the Payments Hub and made continuous improvements to the user experience within the Payments Hub.
Improved Error Handling for Annual Amendments
Our bulk amendment process now boasts improved error handling, giving detailed error messages for failed record submissions, along with a downloadable report to make changes to errors quicker. In addition to this, it now supports multiple file formats for bulk uploads.
Introducing PCI Pal Call Masking
By partnering with PCI Pal we've developed an additional, fully PCI DSS Compliant, Call Masking solution. This integration between allpay, PCI Pal and your telephony provider, allows seamless safeguarding for your sensitive card data.
The launch of File Manager
The new File Manager lets you download your organisation's Payment & Information Files directly within the Payments Hub. Users can access these files easily, securely and immediately upon availability, saving you valuable time and effort. Historic files are also available for download to those with the appropriate role.
Organisation Hierarchy
The latest update allows you to seamlessly switch between the organisations you are part of within the Payments Hub. No more logging out and back in - manage all your payment needs with ease.
Expanded User Roles and Permissions
The enhanced user permissions feature empowers you to manage user roles efficiently within the Payments Hub. This ensures the right people have the right access, maximising security and streamlining your workflows.
Introducing Customer Account Manager
The new account management feature empowers you to streamline the entire customer journey within the Payments Hub. Seamlessly create accounts, order cards (new or replacements), and manage existing accounts - all from a single centralised platform.
WebConnect Migration
We're thrilled to announce the successful migration of over 14,000 user accounts to the Payments Hub! This means a more secure and centralised location for all your payment processing needs.
New and Improved Navigation
We're always looking to improve your experience in the Payments Hub, make setting up payments easier, increase efficiency and streamline performance. We've introduced a new way to move between products, which allows you to swap between the areas you need.
The importance of being represented on key frameworks cannot be overstated in the ever-evolving landscape of public sector procurement.
For allpay, a leader in payment solutions, being present on a majority of large frameworks is not just a badge of honour but a strategic advantage that benefits both our clients and our organisation.
Why Frameworks Matter
Procurement frameworks are essential tools that enable public sector organisations to procure goods and services efficiently, transparently, and cost-effectively. These frameworks are pre-approved supplier lists that provide a streamlined procurement process, ensuring compliance with public sector procurement regulations and reducing the administrative burden on both suppliers and buyers.
For allpay, being listed on prominent frameworks like NHC 2023, PFH 2023, SEC 2022, G-Cloud 13, CCS RM 6428, and NEPO 505 means that our services are accessible to a wide range of public sector clients.
This accessibility is crucial in today's competitive market, where ease of procurement can be a deciding factor for clients.
Meeting Diverse Client Needs
Our representation on multiple frameworks ensures that public sector organisations can procure our services in a manner that suits their specific procurement strategies and organisational requirements. Whether through a direct procurement process or via a preferred framework, our clients have the flexibility to choose the most convenient and compliant route.
For example, the National Housing Consortium (NHC) 2023 framework provides housing associations with access to a range of services designed to enhance operational efficiency and tenant satisfaction. Similarly, the Procurement for Housing (PFH) 2023 framework focuses on delivering value for money and improving procurement processes for housing providers. By being present on these frameworks, allpay can support housing providers in delivering better services to their residents.
Enhancing Trust and Credibility
Being listed on major procurement frameworks also verifies allpay's credibility and reliability. These frameworks have stringent selection criteria, ensuring that only suppliers with a proven track record of quality, compliance, and financial stability are included. For our clients, this representation provides an additional layer of confidence in choosing allpay as their payment solutions provider.
For instance, G-Cloud 13, managed by the Crown Commercial Service (CCS), is a digital marketplace that allows public sector bodies to find and compare cloud-based services. Our inclusion in this framework highlights our capability to deliver innovative and secure digital payment solutions. Likewise, the CCS RM 6428 and NEPO 505 frameworks further cement our reputation as a trusted partner for public sector organizations across various sectors.
Driving Innovation and Efficiency
allpay’s presence on these frameworks is not just about accessibility and credibility; it is also about driving innovation and efficiency. By participating in these frameworks, we stay at the forefront of industry trends and regulatory changes, ensuring that our services remain cutting-edge and compliant. This proactive approach allows us to continuously improve our offerings and deliver enhanced value to our clients.
Conclusion
In conclusion, allpay's strategic representation on major public sector procurement frameworks is a cornerstone of our commitment to serving the public sector efficiently and effectively. It enables our clients to procure our services with ease, fosters trust and credibility, and drives continuous innovation. As we continue to expand our presence on these frameworks, we look forward to supporting more public sector organisations in achieving their goals and delivering exceptional services to their communities.
allpay has revolutionised rent collection for Edinburgh City Council since April 2018. By upgrading to a modern Direct Debit system, the Council has processed £3.8 million in rental income and seen nearly a 100% increase in new Direct Debit payers.
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Payments per year
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We sat down with allpay's Head of Product, Mike Doherty, to address common questions and concerns related to payment processing, security, or emerging technologies. Here's how it went:
💡 What emerging trends in the payments industry are you most excited about, and how do you see them shaping the future of payments?
The payment trends that most excite me are those that will enable allpay to make payments easy for our clients and their customers. So, at the moment, we are focussing on digital wallets, making payments available through Google Pay and Apple Pay.
Likewise, open banking offers new opportunities to make payment easier, so this is another area of focus. Adding these payment options to the allpay suite will increase client and customer choice, continuing allpay’s track record of providing the widest choice and greatest convenience to clients and customers.
💡 With the rise of digital wallets and other alternative payment methods, how is allpay adapting its products and services to meet changing consumer preferences?
Several months ago, we started on a journey of updating the Payment Hub user interface, bringing a more consistent, role-based experience to client users.
While this work continues, we are now updating our consumer facing portals and mobile app to offer a similar consistent and up-to-date user experience which will seamlessly integrate these new payment options. This will provide consumers with a wider choice of payment options through a great, frictionless, online consumer experience, whether though web app or mobile device.
Digital Wallets (Google Pay, Apple Pay)
Open Banking
Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies
Biometric Payments
💡 Security is always a top concern in payments. How is allpay innovating to ensure the security and integrity of transactions in an increasingly digital landscape?
Security has always been bedrock of allpay solutions and that continues to be the case. As we add new payment options, we continue to implement robust security measures, such as tokenization, encryption, biometrics and multi-factor authentication, to protect sensitive customer data and maintain trust while mitigating the risks associated with the digital payment landscape.
💡 How do you see the role of traditional banking institutions evolving in the face of fintech disruption, and how does allpay position itself within this evolving ecosystem?
Fintech disruption has certainly challenged the traditional banking model. However, many banks are adapting and evolving to remain competitive by embracing digital transformation, forming strategic partnerships and collaborations with fintech companies, and leveraging their strengths in areas such as regulatory compliance and cybersecurity.
Through these transformations, traditional banks are redefining their role in the financial services ecosystem while delivering innovative financial solutions focussed on customer experience. New business models are also evolving for banks. The adoption of open banking is fostering innovation while some are becoming technology providers or offering Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) solutions. By providing their banking infrastructure and services to fintech companies, traditional banks can generate new revenue streams and remain relevant.
allpay is uniquely placed, with a long history and great track record of secure payment collection and disbursements for hundreds of blue-chip clients and millions of end customers, to take advantage of open banking infrastructure, partnerships and collaboration to extent our own range of financial services and innovative solutions.
💡 As we move towards a more cashless society, how is allpay addressing the needs of communities or individuals who may still rely heavily on cash transactions?
While technology and innovation are at the core of allpay’s DNA, we have always recognised that certain communities and individuals still rely heavily on cash transactions for a variety of reasons. With this in mind, allpay has maintained strong links with on the ground cash collection agencies and is the only payment services provider offering over 50,000 cash payment locations to consumers, covering the entire length and breadth of the country, through the Post Office, Payzone and PayPoint networks. We understand that this can be a lifeline for many consumers, hence, we maintain these relationships with the same enthusiasm and innovative approach as do for wholly digital solutions.
💡 What role does data analytics play in shaping allpay's product development and customer experience strategies?
With 30 years of payment data, spanning the largest housing associations and local and central government agencies, allpay has a wealth of data to hand. While this is not an area we have invested in previously, that is changing. Using anonymised data, allpay are uniquely positioned to offer clients deep insights into their own payments collection operations and customers’ behaviour. This will enable allpay to provide trend analysis and benchmarking and to help clients understand how their services compare against industry peers, while also helping allpay to innovate and create great customer experiences.
Encryption and Tokenisation
Multi-Factor Authentication
Biometric Verification
Fraud Detection Systems
💡 Looking ahead, what do you envision as the next big breakthrough or innovation in the payments industry, and how is allpay positioning itself to stay at the forefront of these developments?
I don’t there will necessarily be one big break through, rather, I think there will be many evolutions across multiple fronts as the size and scale of the payments industry continues to expand.
Of particular interest to allpay is the evolution of banking as a service (BaaS) where the integration of financial services, including disbursements and payments, could enable allpay to offer seamless payment experiences within our product and service suite, without the need for clients or customers to operate separate financial applications or accounts.
This, coupled with artificial intelligence and machine learning, could be a gamechanger in enhancing payment security and fraud detection, opening new access to financial services (particularly for the unbanked and underbanked) and offering personalised customer experiences. Intelligent payment systems could learn from user behaviours, detect anomalies, and provide tailored recommendations or offers based on spending patterns, needs and preferences.
By adopting such strategies, allpay can position itself as a leader in payments innovation, staying ahead of the curve and delivering cutting-edge solutions that meet the evolving needs and expectations of clients and customer alike.
User Experience and Interface
Security Measures
Variety of Payment Options
Customer Support
We're thrilled to share some exciting news from allpay Limited! We've recently been awarded the prestigious Mastercard Sustainability Badge, marking a significant milestone in our journey towards environmentally conscious practices.
In today's world, where plastic payment cards are rapidly replacing cash as a preferred mode of payment, it's essential to consider their environmental impact. With over 3 billion plastic payment cards shipped worldwide annually, the need for sustainable solutions is more pressing than ever.
Recognising this, industry and regulatory bodies are setting objectives to reduce plastic usage, increase reusability, and improve recyclability. In response, the payment cards industry is taking decisive steps to introduce more eco-friendly solutions.
The Mastercard Sustainability Badge reflects our commitment to using sustainable materials in card manufacturing, a testament to our dedication to eco-friendly practices.
Over the past year, we've made significant strides in improving our sustainability metrics, surpassing the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) Baseline.
Our efforts have yielded impressive results:
Total Energy Consumption reduced by 48%.
Production Waste eliminated, achieving a 100% improvement.
Non-recycled Material Consumption decreased by 73%.
Non-renewable Energy Consumption decreased by 50%.
Aligning with Mastercard's vision for a more environmentally responsible future, our UK-based card production facility has focused on various aspects such as card composition, sourcing, design for sustainability, and best practices in sustainable marketing.
The Mastercard Sustainability badge is just part of allpay’s commitment and responsibility to a greener and better future.
The 50% reduction in Non-renewable energy feeds into our ISO50001 commitment for energy management as well supporting our journey to Carbon Net Zero.
Sustainability, energy reduction and the continued effort to reduce our carbon footprint is a major part of the strategy and culture at allpay and we continue to strive to drive down our impact on the planet with an ethical approach and with the support of strategic partner’s such as Planet Mark.
This Mastercard Sustainability Badge reflects our ongoing commitment to sustainable practices. This achievement is a testament to our continuous efforts in sustainable card manufacturing.
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Housing 2024 | Manchester 25-27 June | Stand G32
We're heading to Housing 2024 in Manchester - a critical event in the housing calendar.
Visit us at stand G32 for:
Information about seamless payments 💳
Exclusive product demos ⚡
Delicious Frappes on us 🧊🥛
One-to-one meetings 💬
Our very own Commercial Director, Jonathan Stanton-Humphreys, will be speaking on the Insights Stage at 9:30 on Wednesday morning 🎤
We're also hosting a drinks reception at Dirty Martini, 1 St Peter St, Manchester, on Wednesday the 26th of June 17:30-20:00, so don't forget to pop by and have a drink on us! 🍻🍾
Whether you are looking to start your journey with allpay, or want to elevate your existing services, book an exclusive appointment with one of our team now.
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