Revolutionising insurance business payments with PayTo

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5 minutes

As an insurance provider, delivering an excellent experience for your customers is key — particularly in a saturated market. Leveraging innovation in technology and exceptional support are great ways to add value, over and above the products and services you provide. 

Policyholders are offered a diverse range of payment methods to provide choice and flexibility in how they pay. Typically this is direct debit from bank accounts and credit cards for recurring subscriptions, and options like BPAY and online payments for one-off yearly or catch-up payments. 

However, these traditional methods carry their share of limitations. Delays in payment settlement, and missed or late payments can disrupt your company's cash flow and also negatively impact your customer experience. For example, missed payments could lead to a lapse in cover at a critical time when the policyholder needs it most. 

Enter PayTo: Addressing these pain points, PayTo is an innovative solution developed by Australian Payments Plus (AP+). PayTo allows real-time collection of payments from policyholders' bank accounts, starting a revolutionary shift in the insurance payment process.

PayTo incorporates the same set-and-forget benefits of direct debit, but with added speed, simplicity and security. With pre-authorised payment agreements, PayTo can help reduce payment disputes, missed payments, and fraud risks. 

Let's delve deeper into how PayTo is the perfect match for insurance businesses:

Leveraging innovation & new tech 

In the fast-paced world of financial technology, PayTo is a stand-out innovation. While some banks and financial service providers are still getting up to speed, Ezidebit is already fully integrated with the top-tier Australian Payments Plus (AP+) technology.

Adopting PayTo presents an exceptional opportunity for insurance companies to differentiate themselves by offering a superior digital customer experience. 

  • Takeaway: PayTo will help position you as an industry leader, giving you a competitive advantage in today’s tech-driven market.

 

Fast to set-up payment agreements

As a digital payment method, PayTo is quick and easy to set-up. Your customer fills in a short online form requiring minimal information. They agree to the payment amount, frequency and duration and can choose to provide their bank details or soon, PayID details if they have this set-up. 

They receive a notification from their banking app, and can view the agreement details and click to ‘authorise’ payment. That’s it! No lengthy forms, no waiting delays for approvals. 

 

 

  • Takeaway: PayTo simplifies and enhances the payment experience, and contributes to a positive customer experience with your business.

 

Proactive customer communication

PayTo empowers insurance providers like you to deliver a consistent and seamless customer experience.

Your customers receive notifications at various stages of payment, keeping them informed of their payment obligations and avoiding potential issues or surprises. Also, longer transaction references and greater visibility of payments and agreements gives customers more information about payments that have been taken.

If a payment agreement has paused or lapsed, PayTo’s real-time notifications provide an opportunity to proactively reach out to the customer, motivating them to reinstate their insurance coverage with you. 

  • Takeaway: PayTo revolutionises how you and your customers interact. It shifts the conversation from reactive calls about missed payments, to proactive value-add communications with your customers.  

 

Better business cash flow 

PayTo allows businesses to take secure payments from bank accounts in real-time - 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

PayTo enables insurance providers like you to collect payments in a matter of seconds, with the option to receive settled funds the same day.

  • Takeaway: PayTo accelerates payment processing timeframes and greatly improves control over your cash flow and forecasted revenue.

 

Greater control & visibility

PayTo offers increased visibility and instant notifications, keeping your business informed about the status of agreements and payments in real-time. 

PayTo helps you manage your cash flow with confidence. If a payment fails, PayTo offers the flexibility to attempt the transaction multiple times, whilst also communicating to your customer via SMS, reducing time spent chasing payment. This is an evolution of traditional direct debit, where a business wouldn't know if a transaction was successful for two to three days.

  • Takeaway: Leverage enhanced visibility for efficient cash flow management. 

Streamlined operations and an efficiency boost

PayTo’s availability compared with traditional payment methods means you can trigger payments on the same day every month with no more delays around public holidays for transaction processing.

With Ezidebit, you’ll also receive a single funds settlement supported with a comprehensive settlement report across all enabled payment types - PayTo (real-time), direct debit, eftpos, BPAY, online and phone payments. 

Plus, because payment agreements are securely stored centrally, you don’t need to retain your agreements for seven years to meet your compliance obligations anymore. It’s all digital. 

  • Takeaway: PayTo significantly increases efficiency through real-time payments and streamlined operations, enabling you to focus on business growth. 

Focus on security

PayTo with Ezidebit uses advanced security measures, including two-factor authentication through your customer’s banking app, keeping transactions safe and secure.

Because payment agreements are pre-authorised by customers, disputes related to unauthorised account use become a thing of the past.

  • Takeaway: PayTo significantly reduces the risk of fraud and payment disputes. 


Get your insurance company PayTo ready

PayTo’s digital payment technology and forward-thinking approach gives you a point of difference in a competitive industry. As an early adopter of PayTo, you’ll be seen as an industry leader in technology innovation  and providing exceptional service.  

Interested in leading the pack and becoming one of the first businesses in your industry to trial PayTo? Join our pilot program. From there, our pilot team will reach out to you to provide the integration specifications and set up a meeting to discuss the next steps.

 


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