About the City of Lynchburg
Lynchburg is a city in Virginia located east of the Blue Ridge Mountains. With nearly 80,000 residents, Lynchburg provides a large variety of public services and hosts multiple colleges and universities. It also encompasses historical districts and cultural destinations, including Thomas Jefferson’s Poplar Forest.
Challenge: Limitations to In-Person Payment Options and Varying Back Office Processes
Residents struggled to pay their bills in-person, especially those who needed to pay by cash because Lynchburg had limited cashiers available to support them and hours available to accept in-person payments. The municipality offers a large number of public services, and backend processing was handled separately and differently by each department, leading to tedious reconciliation efforts and reporting. Lynchburg staff needed a way to automate bill processing to maximize revenue collection, achieve a more manageable workload, centralize reporting, and better support customers.
- In-person payment options that accept cash were limited and restrictive
- Different reconciliation processes for each department led to more tedious efforts to consolidate information across departments and critical reporting.
Solution: Adding Kiosks and a Centralized Back Office Solution Across City Departments
To eliminate these challenges, the City of Lynchburg selected Euna Payments to implement three self-service payment kiosks located at City Hall, Lynchburg Public Library, and River Ridge Mall. Each kiosk supports multiple debt types, including utilities, business licenses, personal property tax, and more, enabling customers to pay multiple obligations in one visit. The kiosks are available to Lynchburg residents 24/7 and allow them to pay bills with cash, check, or card.
Results: Immediate Positive Impact for Residents and Staff
The self-service kiosks have made an immediate impact on residents and staff. The new solution offers a safe and secure way for customers to pay multiple city obligations, while reducing lines and foot traffic in City Hall. Additionally, Revenue Management, Euna Payments’ powerful reconciliation tool, helps speed up the resolution of transaction discrepancies and provides staff with the ability to generate important reports for closeout. Payments made for all agencies are visible in one central location, streamlining these processes for staff and empowering them to deliver even better customer service.
The City of Lynchburg saw a major increase in customer satisfaction through the added convenience and flexibility provided by the new solution. The kiosks are very user friendly, allowing Lynchburg staff to spend less time assisting customers with making payments and more time solving complex customer issues.
Some of the benefits include:
- 24/7 access to make payments at kiosks
- Streamlined reconciliation through Revenue Management
- Ability to add additional agencies to kiosks in the future