Customer journey mapping: Allpay system in Scarborough

Capability: Pay by AllPay as is
Status: Draft
Version: 0.1

Process area: New council for North Yorkshire
Date: 10 July 2023
Authors: L Kaye, G Staff, K Wardell, J Darwin 

Process

If a customer receives an Arrangement Invoice - barcode embedded - the process is: 

1. The customer receives an Arrangement Invoice - barcode embedded. 
2. There are options for weekly, fortnightly or monthly payment. 
3. The customer takes the invoice to a shop or Post Office with a PayPoint facility.
4. The customers pays their invoice.
5. The customer receives a text.
6. The customer receives a receipt. 
7. The council receives an electronic file from AllPay to import into IMS after a couple of days.

If a customer receives a debtor's invoice - barcode embedded - the process is: 

1. The customer receives a debtor's invoice - barcode embedded.
2. This is usually paid back in full. 
3. The customer takes the invoice to a shop or Post Office with a PayPoint facility.
4. The customers pays their invoice.
5. The customer receives a text.
6. The customer receives a receipt. 
7. The council receives an electronic file from AllPay to import into IMS after a couple of days.

Customers impacted

The customers impacted include:

• elderly people who do not travel very far
• vulnerable adults  
• customers can be impacted financially depending on how they pay
• rural customers would need to travel by bus or car
• HPL: sometimes do not have the phone credit to make a call, so the office needs to call them - usually notified by email, usually in cases to notify that they cannot pay

Notes on customers impacted

1. Social care will help vulnerable adults to make payments. Could this be extended? 
2. Distance is going to be a problem for people in rural areas to travel to pay at a council office.

Payment types

The types of payment are:

• housing benefit overpayments
• arrangement invoices - single people / parents / sometimes in work / businesses in rent arrears
• homeless loans - Direct Debits are not sustainable and create a certain amount of admin when they fail to pay
• pay via cheque, debit / credit card, cash for AllPay
• everywhere takes cash, Post Offices will take cheque, debit / credit will depend on the outlet
• cheques are sometimes used, particularly for the older generation
• Hambleton provide cash payments at local offices

Notes on payment types

1. Do libraries take payments already? Could they take payments?

Notes 

1. Barcodes are embedded in both Arrangement Invoices and Debtors Invoices for AllPay facility. 
2. Debtors invoice - usually automatically generated. 
3. Housing Options department - could these staff help? There is a cost already to AllPay transactions. 
4. Oracle does not already have this functionality in place. What would be the cost to implement this? AllPay charge a transaction charge anyway. 
5. Arrangement Invoices - requesting help from council to prevent homelessness.
6. Universal Credit pays into a bank account.
7. Basic bank accounts provide debit cards, so they could pay over the phone. 
8. Do customers pay their invoices when they are visiting town to shop anyway or do they make a special trip? 
9. Banks are closing in villages and towns. 
10. 50p to 60p per AllPay transaction. Currently around £30,000 per year across the board. This is not just for sundry debting.
11. Scarborough area: number of transactions 1,770 in January 2023.
12. Sundry debtor invoicing - AllPay is only being removed from this.
13. Do numbers mean that it is necessary to provide an alternative? Could a payment just not be expected / required?