Benefits Realisation and the ePay Calculator

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Benefits Realisation and the e-Pay Calculator

• 21st April 2005

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Three key areas to cover today
Benefits realisation
e-Pay and targets
e-Pay Calculator
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Specific aims

• Understand how e-Payments can help you deliver
  Gershon and other e-government targets
• See how the e-Pay Calculator can be used to
  calculate benefits from e-payments
• Explore the relationship between cashable savings
  and enhanced service delivery
• See examples of how you can realise benefits
• Know where to go for more information on the
  e-Pay calculator and benefits realisation

Should be particularly relevant if you have
already implemented e-payments and are looking
to measure/find benefits
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What would you like to get out of this session?

• Which areas are of particular interest?
• Your key issues now?

Benefits realisation
e-Pay and targets
e-Pay Calculator
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Three key areas to cover today
Benefits realisation
e-Pay and targets
e-Pay Calculator
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How e-Pay can help you deliver Gershon
E-government, and especially e-pay and
e-procurement, likely to be prominent in
delivering Gershon 2.5 savings pa over 3 years
Achieving savings
Reporting savings

• Benefits realisation work can support completion
  of Annual Efficiency Statement (AES)

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Good news e-Pay and Gershon

• Taking a structured approach to benefits
  realisation ie measuring and target setting e-Pay
  benefits should help you meet the reporting
  requirements for AES with limited extra effort
• The e-Pay calculator is a good way to start
  assessing benefits
• e-Payments toolkit provides many real-life
  examples of benefits realisation
• e-Payment implementation should lead to
  efficiency gains that can be reported against all
  Gershon categories. ..

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How e-Pay can help you deliver Gershon
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How e-Pay can help you deliver Gershon
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How e-Pay supports other e-government reporting
targets - PSTOs
Guidance and examples around citizen trust and
confidence
R10 public trust and confidence in e-payment
solutions
Intermediaries on EBPP, school meals portal,
planning portal
R11 delivery of added value around online
payments and G11 registration for e-billing
G10 demonstration of efficiency savings and
improved collection rates and E10 agreed
baseline and targets for reduction in unit costs
of payment transactions
e-Pay Calculator
E8 facilities for making card payment via SMS
for parking fines
Intermediaries background on m-payment solutions
for parking
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Three key areas to cover today
Benefits realisation
e-Pay and targets
e-Pay Calculator
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How to assess benefits e-Pay calculator

• The e-Pay calculator allows you to
• Assess tangible and intangible benefits in a
  consistent format
• and in a Gershon-friendly way
• View benefits by channel and by service under
  any scenario you want
• Get a quick, accurate answer by entering just
  three inputs
• Or tailor any of the other fifty variables to
  suit your Local Authoritys circumstances
• Gives quantitative and qualitative outputs

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How Authorities have used the calculator

• The e-Pay calculator has been used by Local
  Authorities to
• Fill in IEG4 section 6
• Forecast Gershon savings
• Plan and adapt access channel strategies
• Communicate benefits internally and externally
• challenge preconceptions and highlight issues

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Benefits of the e-Pay calculator

• is not
• a perfect representation of the real world
• a guarantee of realising benefits
• an out-of-the-box solution

• It is...
• a tool for calculating financial benefits
• a stimulus for data collection
• a means of justifying and targeting investment
• an effective communication tool
• an aid to setting targets
• a step towards Gershon

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How the e-Pay calculator was built
Feedback
e-Pay Calculator
Feedback
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So how does the Calculator work?
Calculator builds up the costs per transaction
for each channel
COSTS
MEASURE OF CHANNEL
TAKE UP
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Methodology and Calculation

• compares the costs of the e-Pay scenario with
  the costs of not moving to e-payment solutions.

Base Case Cash Office Post Direct Debit
e-Pay Scenario
Operational Benefit
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Methodology and Calculation

• and then adds the additional financial benefits.

Additional Benefits - Reduced Interaction -
Collection Rate - Cashflow
Total Benefits
Operational Benefit


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Outputs - Total benefits
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Outputs - Cost over time by channel
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Cashable and non-cashable benefits
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Example input e-Channel selection
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Non-financial Benefits
Mobile phone
Kiosk
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Where next e-Pay calculator

• Toolkit www.e-payments.org.uk
• Online e-Pay calculator (base version)
• Downloadable Excel spreadsheets (for more detail)
• Versions for Unitaries, Counties and Districts
• Also user manual

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Three key areas to cover today
Benefits realisation
e-Pay and targets
e-Pay Calculator
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Realising benefits key messages

• Link benefits assessment to Gershon planning
• Make explicit decisions
• Look across whole process /Authority
• Promote take-up to get benefits
• Dont forget to build buy-in with staff
• Good measurement is key
• Devil is in the detail

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Making explicit decisions

• Many Authorities have been taking benefits from
  e-pay as service improvements not cashable
  benefits
• First step to identify win-wins vs strategic
  choices

More access points from e-Pay delivering higher
collection rate
Win-win
Strategic choice
Cash office change
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Strategic choice Cash Offices

• e-Pay implementation typically reduces volume
  through cash office
• Three ways of taking the benefit

Customer service improvement
Mix service improvement/ cashable benefit
Significant cashable benefit
Keep staff and reduce queues
Reduce staff to match some of volume decrease /
queues reduced
Close some cash offices / offer access via
e-payment intermediaries
Key is to ensure decision on how benefits used
is an explicit decision (not one made by default)
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Realising benefits key messages

• Link benefits assessment to Gershon planning
• Make explicit decisions
• Look across whole process /Authority
• Promote take-up to get benefits
• Dont forget to build buy-in with staff
• Good measurement is key
• Devil is in the detail

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Top areas for savings

• Reduce the number of cash offices and streamline
  the activity within them
• Get rid of the paper
• Reduce costs of banking charges, and/or charge on
  citizens credit card costs
• Ensure reconciliation data is fully integrated
• Realise small pockets of time savings by
  consolidating functional tasks
• Manage citizens to cheaper channels
• Take additional revenues

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How you can build up efficiency savings
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Key process areas
Cash offices
Customer contact
Query resolution
Reconcil-iation
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Realising benefits key messages

• Link benefits assessment to Gershon planning
• Make explicit decisions
• Look across whole process /Authority
• Promote take-up to get benefits
• Dont forget to build buy-in with staff
• Good measurement is key
• Devil is in the detail

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Getting to efficiency savings through promoting
take-up

• Question
• How many citizens do you need to convert from
  paying Council Tax in cash offices to Direct
  debit to see a return on a 10,000 marketing
  spend?
• Answer
• 575 individuals

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So why dont you.

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Inexpensive and high-impact ways to promote e-pay
take-up

• Leaflet mailings
• Put information on the back of bills and
  envelopes
• Train front line staff to push e-payment services
• Use the Council newsletter
• Email signature function
• Homepage button
• ATP first option for callers
• Enhance DD through multiple dates/ 12 mths of
  payments

e-Pay
Your Council vehicles?
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Realising benefits key messages

• Link benefits assessment to Gershon planning
• Make explicit decisions
• Look across whole process /Authority
• Promote take-up to get benefits
• Dont forget to build buy-in with staff
• Good measurement is key
• Devil is in the detail

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Building buy-in

• Be upfront with staff and be aware of
  sensitivities around change.
• Train and consult staff regularly
• Feed back success stories
• Communicate to all levels of staff
• Include departments
• Integrate the process change into HR
• Encourage healthy in-house rivalry

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Realising benefits key messages

• Link benefits assessment to Gershon planning
• Make explicit decisions
• Look across whole process /Authority
• Promote take-up to get benefits
• Dont forget to build buy-in with staff
• Good measurement is key
• Devil is in the detail

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Measurement top tips

• Simplicity
• Set baselines
• Schedule
• See-through process
• Share in success
• Scrutinise
• Sources
• Scavenge
• Small Savings

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Realising benefits key messages

• Link benefits assessment to Gershon planning
• Make explicit decisions
• Look across whole process /Authority
• Promote take-up to get benefits
• Dont forget to build buy-in with staff
• Good measurement is key
• Devil is in the detail

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Some ideas to take away

• Are you?
• Offering pre-payments
• Renegotiating your banking charges
• Using email receipts
• Managing reconciliation (eg chargebacks )
• Getting front-line staff to sell e-pay
• Measuring

Much more in the e-Pay toolkit
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Where next realising benefits
Toolkit www.e-payments.org.uk
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Contact details

• Toolkit www.e-payments.org.uk
• E info_at_localegovnp.org.uk
• 0870 777 0011
• Julian Hubbersgilt
• julian.hubbersgilt_at_lbhf.gov.uk
• Diana Gerald
• 020 7233 0608
• Diana.Gerald_at_rseconsulting.co.uk
• www.rseconsulting.co.uk