Plymouth and Lewisham Councils have decided to introduce an innovative new payment solution that will increase flexibility and simplify the management of benefits and other payments made by the Councils. Advanced Payment Solutions (APS), who is partnered with the Co-operative Bank, announced that it has won contracts to provide its award winning Cashplus® Prepaid MasterCard® Account to two additional councils.
The Cashplus Account has a number of advantages for councils including better security, more control and more transparent auditing of what is actually being spent. The account also eliminates cumbersome manual processes, making it a low-cost and effective way to manage payments.
The Coalition Government’s plans to reform and simplify benefits were widely supported and councils have been looking for innovative ways to cut costs, meet the ‘Putting People First’ vision, and reduce fraud which was estimated at £5.2billion. APS have supported public sector procurement teams across the country in providing functional, value adding payment solutions.
There are also significant benefits for users of the Cashplus Prepaid MasterCard Account. Out of the 8 million households who will be receiving Universal Credit, up to 1.3 million don’t have a bank account that can manage transactions such as Direct Debit. As claimants will be expected to manage rent payments themselves (rather than being paid direct by the council as now) facilities like Direct Debit are seen as crucial. The Cashplus MasterCard Account will give these people access to these facilities without them having to set-up another bank account.
APS has been rapidly gaining market share over the traditionally dominant suppliers of payment services. Plymouth and Lewisham follow Nottinghamshire County, Bury and Merton in joining the growing numbers of councils turning to APS to manage payments.
Richard Wagner, CEO of APS, explained; ” We’re delighted that so many councils now recognise the advantages of Cashplus Accounts over traditional methods and we’re confident that once other councils see the benefits there will be many more.”
