Prepaid Card meeting Edinburgh 30 March 2017 Paul Stokes – Development Manager Gateshead Council paulstokes@gateshead.gov.uk

Gateshead – pre 2014 Appointees Time consuming to pay bills – lengthy payment process Not best use of customer funds – excluded from direct debit savings. What about financial inclusion? Difficult to manage – reconciliation and late payment issues Not a cost effective service provision Direct Payments Bank account set up required – additional work for customer Monitoring - without a monitoring officer Loss of funds - too late to pick up fraud or misuse.

How we started What type of solution? – Banks or Prepaid? Knowledge base – network meetings/other users. Seek advice from “experts”. Preparation – what work is required for transition. Reconciliation issues/Other third parties may need to be involved e.g. DWP Financial constraints

Gateshead 2017 Before After Appointees Time consuming process to pay bills Not best use of customer funds Difficult to manage Direct Payments Bank account set up required Monitoring Loss of funds Appointees DD set up – not individual payments Savings for customer Online management system Direct Payments No bank set up Monitoring online Retain funds

Gateshead – March 2017 Appointees – currently have over 300 main accounts plus around 130 cash only cards Direct payments – over 550 accounts. Schools – post Co-Op bank solution in over 60 schools Council Employees – far greater flexibility on spend Significant savings made – DP refunds and reviews but will depend in part on your current procedures Improved service to the customer Increased scope for development of card use across Council

Important to get the system that fits your requirements Things to consider Specification – do your research before not after – contacts & site visits recommended System that fits your requirements – Councils will be different depending on take up and what the cards are to be used for What are plans for the life of the contract? Will your supplier be flexible? Communication with service users – get key stakeholders involved early on. Find somebody supportive who can positively influence the project Plan the transition 80/20 rule applies – focus on the positive customer engagement Development of prepaid cards – product continues to evolve Important to get the system that fits your requirements