We have established a contract for online payments which is available to County Durham schools and academies.
Our contract
The system enables parents or carers to make secure payments online using a debit/credit card or bank transfer at their convenience. It also enables schools to notify parents by text or email about any amounts owed for dinner money, schools trips and uniforms. The system can also be used for amounts owed to a school’s delegated budget, and for private school fund income.
Where parents or carers do not currently have a debit or credit card or access to the internet, schools can also provide them with cards to allow them to make payments at PayPoint outlets.
Benefits of the contract
- provides a quick, secure and easy to use online cashless payment solution for parents
- meets the needs of parents or carers who are asking to pay online
- eliminates or reduces the need for children to carry cash in school
- eliminates the need for County Durham schools to carry out their own procurement process and evaluate the commercial and technical benefits of each solution
- the supplier and solution selected has already been implemented in approximately 9,000 schools and is a proven system compatible with school systems and our protocol
- easier communication with parents and reduced administration for schools
- parents without access to online options (credit or debit cards) can pay in cash at local PayPoint stores
- cashless payments assures parents that their money has reached the school safely
- ability for parents to view their account statement and payment history, check when payments need to be made and set alerts to remind them to pay
- ability for schools to display the school menu online or report which meal their child chose at lunchtime
- parents will be able to make a single payment for more than one pupil and/or more than one item at a time
- lower costs if you reduce the number of cash collections in school eg change from weekly to fortnightly collections
- supplier provides weekly information to the council’s income team electronically which will interface with ICON to ensure that schools’ delegated budgets are credited with the income received from supplier
- Durham academies will be able to access the service on the same basis as maintained schools although they will need to make their own arrangements in respect of the supply of information about income received
- Parents with children in schools across the county will only require a single login if the schools use the same product
Coverage
This contract is only available to County Durham schools and academies.