RETURN ON INVESTMENT ANALYSIS

A comprehensive analysis of the Return on Investment the University of Birmingham has achieved through the use of WPM Education's E-Payment Solutions

IN SUMMARY

Weighing the set-up, development and ongoing support costs against the Card Payment Gateway and Online Store savings, an approximate return on investment of £841,005 can be calculated. The University of Birmingham no longer issue invoices to students for fees and have benefited from an improved cash flow, increased efficiencies and substantially reduced administrative overheads which are being realised across the university.



1. The set-up and development costs for the University of Birmingham including the implementation cost of the Card Payment Gateway in 2001 and Online Store in 2005.
2. The Card Payment Gateway and Online Store saving based on the time and administration saved due to online processing.
3. The additional saving for the University of Birmingham over developing a bespoke in-house solution with similar functionality.

CUMULATIVE CARD PAYMENT GATEWAY & ONLINE STORE SAVING

The table below highlights the University of Birmingham's year-on-year processing savings for the Card Payment Gateway since 2001 and the Online Store since 2005.

1. The University of Birmingham estimate a saving of £10 per transaction processed via the Card Payment Gateway, removing the need for the physical banking of income, reconciliation and posting documents to the financial accounting system.
2. Using an average saving per transaction of £15. Based on the following calculations that were performed for the 2008-2009 financial year, the University of Birmingham calculated a cost of raising an invoice at circa £25:



Approximately one third of the payments through the store would have required an invoice, a saving of £25 per transaction. Although the remaining transactions would not require an invoice, the University of Birmingham estimate a saving of £10 per transaction, removing the need for physical banking of income, reconciliation and posting documents to the financial accounting system. Therefore, for clarity, an average value of £15 saving per transaction was used.

MOVING FORWARD

The Online Store offers the University an opportunity to improve cash flow, whilst substantially reducing staff resources required to process each transaction. To date, the University has only scratched the surface of the potential savings within its budget centres and is actively seeking to increase these. This can be seen by the increased volume of transactions in the 2010/11 session.

The solutions continue to evolve, working in partnership with WPM, a company that has the experience and ideas to take the best from both other educational institutions as well as commercial companies. By listening and reacting to industry and client feedback, WPM Education generates a positive outlook for the future, allowing the University of Birmingham to continually provide a high level of customer service while increasing its return on the investment that it has made.

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