Biller Buy-In Is Critical: The City of Dearborn Joins the Network

I've been talking a great deal lately about DivDat kiosk users — and rightly so. Many are among the unbanked or underbanked, who find themselves at the margins of (or entirely outside) the world of online banking and bill paying services most of us inhabit. And our company is working hard at Leveling the Paying Field? to promote their inclusion in that world.

But all our efforts geared toward users don't amount to much absent billers on the other side of the equation. We can give users who have a propensity to pay their bills the tools to do so — but that only helps if the companies, government entities, and other organizations to whom those bills are being paid buy into the network that serves these users.

Fortunately, we've seen more and more biller buy-in, with new billers coming online with increasing frequency. The City of Dearborn is a recent example. They joined the DivDat Kiosk Network in mid-2020 and have since become another success story — which we happily add to those mentioned in a blog I wrote earlier this year.

The City of Dearborn: Before

Prior to joining the network, the City of Dearborn faced some significant challenges with respect to the payment of utility and property tax bills:

• Time-consuming processing for cashiers handling a large volume of cash transactions
• Long waits in line for customers queuing up to pay their bills during business hours
• Delayed payment posting, especially for payments mailed in or collected through drop boxes
• Complex customer communication, especially given the significant percentage of Arabic-language speakers in the community

The pandemic exacerbated some of the city's challenges as government buildings were initially forced to close, and later, office re-openings were limited.

The City of Dearborn: After

The City of Dearborn had made the decision to join the network and was in the planning stage prior to the pandemic, which hastened implementation. Four DivDat kiosks were installed — two in the Dearborn Administrative Center and two in local grocery stores — and the DivDat mobile app was made available.

Biller buy-in, in this instance the City of Dearborn's joining the network, almost immediately provided benefits to both the city and its residents:

• Cashiers handle fewer transactions and deal with less cash.
• Customers who choose to pay through a cashier wait in shorter lines.
• Customers who pay through a kiosk or the mobile app see their payments post immediately and either receive a receipt instantly (at the kiosk) or can print one whenever it's convenient for them (from the mobile app).
• Customers have more bill-paying options — more choices about how, when, and where they pay their bills — which means fewer late or delinquent payments, attendant fees, and penalties.
• Customers can choose to receive step-by-step payment instructions in Arabic, and there is often an Arabic-speaking ambassador on-hand at the kiosk to provide additional assistance if necessary.

While it's still too soon to have collected or compiled much concrete data, the City of Dearborn reports that 8% of all Treasury Department revenue for the quarter ending June 30, 2021 was collected through DivDat kiosks or its mobile app.

And the expectation is that additional data will back up anecdotal evidence of substantial improvement — both in the city's operations and to the service provided to its residents.

The Bottom Line

We talk almost incessantly about our mission at DivDat. But the only way we ultimately bring that mission to fruition is through partnership with billers who are equally invested in providing their customers and constituents with more — and more convenient — access to bill payment services and systems.

We are pleased and proud to have the City of Dearborn join the network and have reveled in seeing the city and its residents reap the rich rewards of doing so.

Are you a billing organization or entity facing your own challenges? Could you and your customers or constituents benefit from joining the DivDat Kiosk Network? Drop a note in the comments or reach out to me directly. We are happy to form new partnerships in pursuit of our common goals.

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Jason Bierkle is President and CEO of DivDat Kiosk Network and currently on a mission to promote the inclusion of the unbanked and underbanked in today's online banking and bill paying services environment through free, convenient, self-serve payment kiosks.