"SINCE IMPLEMENTING THE DIRECT DEBIT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM OUR BUSY FINANCE STAFF HAVE BENEFITTED IMMENSELY"
Matt Blandford, Systems Accountant, Liverpool John Moores UniversityHOW CAN WEBDDS IMPROVE YOUR PROCESSES?
MANAGED WEB-BASED SYSTEM
The system is completely web-based, hence it can be access by any Internet connected PC, and comes with WPM Education's industry leading SLA delivering consistent service and reliability. This also means no specific hardware or software purchases are required to use the system, as well as no physical installation.
INTEGRATED SORT CODE AND ACCOUNT VALIDATION
The system comes with fully integrated sort code validation and modulus checking on bank/building society account numbers, based on the latest industry data. Thus eliminating input errors and also ensuring no third party software is required to achieve this.
VERSATILITY
Working on the basis that one size does not fit all, various categories can be created to suit different collection types, e.g. "Tuition Fees", "Accommodation Fees" and "Donations". Each category can have its own notice periods, correspondence and interface settings.
Changes to collection dates and amounts can then be made to each individual instruction, while still allowing bulk updates based on user-definable criteria.
DIRECT DEBITS MANAGEMENT SYSTEM (WEBDDS)
The WEBDDS Education system aims to provide the most versatile and cost-effective option for Higher and Further Education Institutions looking to process Direct Debit payments.
The system allows an Institution to manage the set up, collection and management of Direct Debit payments via a secure, web-based application. All tasks involved with Direct Debits, including generating any required correspondence, are centralised into a single streamlined system, hence reducing administrative overheads associated with splitting functional elements across different software providers.
Different departments within the Institution can make use of the system to manage fee instalment plans as well as collecting ongoing payments where a mandate is in place. The system is also ideal for collecting recurring donations from alumni and other benefactors with a UK bank account.
The system has been developed hand-in-hand with customers and specifically addresses areas which manual processing or existing software was not able to. This means that both the flexibility and ease of use have been paramount to the system from the outset and manifested throughout the system.
For example the system provides a number of standard and custom interfaces to speed up processes by allowing the pre-population of student details and address data, as well the export of payment information to the Institution's internal systems. The system will automatically generate both electronic (e-mail) and printed correspondence which can be specified on a per-category basis.
PAF INTEGRATION
WEBDDS provides optional integration of PAF (Postal Address File) data to allow customers and administrators alike to make use of postcode lookup and validation processes. This allows time to be saved when entering addresses as well as ensuring less ongoing administration related to incorrect address data.
The system is fully compliant with the BACSTEL-IP application protocol.