Customer success story - Kumon Education Centres

Learn how Kumon Australia and New Zealand saved its franchisees both time and money - and reduced risk - by introducing Ezidebit direct debit and card payments into their centres. 

Summary

Kumon provides supplementary, after-school learning programs for children in over 61 countries, with over three and a half million students across the globe. In Australia and New Zealand, Kumon has 60 employees supporting over 330 Kumon franchisees and 56,188 students.

Their learning method aims to foster sound, capable individuals who are able to independently carve out a path for themselves in life.
Kumon’s business model uses franchisees that operate small businesses from their own premises. 

By partnering with Ezidebit, Kumon was able to:

• Reconcile payments more easily
• Improve security for staff and franchisees
• Save on time spent chasing payments
• Improve customer service 
• Reduce failed payments 
• Increase cash flow

Challenge

Before Kumon partnered with Ezidebit, the most common payment methods were direct bank transfer or cash - both of which presented problems. With Kumon franchisees operating out of individual locations, the question of safety with cash payments to pay for services was always top of mind. Franchise owners also found it difficult to manage payments, receipts, requests to pause payments and so on, while they were busy running classes.

Lauren Dillon has been with Kumon for over 17 years in various roles, including running centres herself. She has an intimate knowledge of what franchisees and centre managers are looking for when it comes to collecting payments.

"In the early days, when I was running a centre I'd have hundreds of dollars in cash in my bag ready to take to the office and I'd be there by myself. Now I can’t believe how unsafe that was,” she said.

With direct transfer requiring parents to remember to make the transaction, there was a risk of late or forgotten payments, with no way to easily follow up or remind parents about upcoming payments.

"We needed a facility that would help to manage this workload but also provide professional service to the families who enrol with us."

"We wanted to respond to customer demand for more convenient payment methods, like direct debit and credit card payments," said Ms. Dillon.

Kumon set about looking for a solution that was convenient and not time-consuming for franchisees, easy for customers to manage payment changes and would not interfere in class time, such as juggling with cash or eftpos machines.

In the end, talking to some of Kumon’s franchisees who were already using Ezidebit payments provided the solution.

"The best thing about it was how easy the system was to use. Also, the monthly fees are reasonable and competitive," she said.

Solution

Introducing and implementing Ezidebit into existing centres was made easier with help and support from Ezidebit.

"We had a number of information sessions for our franchisees to learn about Ezidebit directly from Ezidebit themselves. We also introduced Ezidebit at our company owned centres so we could learn directly from first-hand use and provide help and feedback," Ms. Dillon said.

According to Ms. Dillon, even with Ezidebit’s support, it took time for some franchisees to come on board. Many were concerned their customers would prefer cash or direct transfer of payments and they would churn as a result. Also, franchisees were worried about the cost involved and how they would keep track of payments and dishonoured transactions.

In the end, their concerns were unfounded. 

“I don't know anyone that started using Ezidebit who has said it was a bad decision. Once we got them all on board and through the initial phase, they were all really happy with the results - and the convenience more than anything else. It does save time.”

Results

Getting Kumon on board with Ezidebit has meant improvements in both efficiency and customer service. 

Payments can now be managed outside of class time. Being all digital means franchisees and centre managers can track customer payments more easily for reconciliation. 

Franchisees have more time to focus on their business. The settlement reports and the website are user-friendly and allow franchisees to spend more time in other areas of their business, rather than focusing on payments.

SMS alerts have improved communication with customers by letting them know when fees are to be debited so they can be prepared. It’s saved franchisees both time and money and has meant fewer dishonoured payments and less time following up payments. 

“Emailing payment requests, settlement notification and SMS payment reminders provide franchisees with a simple way to manage payments. I also like the flexibility with payments e.g. frequency, amounts, re-issuing dishonoured payments etc.  And the website is simple and user-friendly.  It is simple to add new payees or place payees on hold,” said Ms. Dillon.

Looking to the future, Kumon plans to continue to use Ezidebit in the same way and present it as a solution to franchisees as part of our onboarding program so new franchisees can enjoy the benefits of using Ezidebit as quickly as possible. 

Want more time to focus on your students? Learn how Ezidebit could save your education or training facility time and money.