With the swift digital transformation of payments, it is essential for governments, utilities, and other service providers to embrace modern and secure payment technology. Adopting new fintech isn’t about keeping up with the Joneses, however. Making these necessary upgrades is the first step towards better serving your customers and providing more robust support for your staff. Once a popular choice, drop box payment collection has become outdated and riskier. Here are four major drawbacks to using drop boxes.
1. Drop Boxes Are Vulnerable to Break-ins, Theft, and Fraud
Let’s face it: drop boxes are easy targets for anyone interested in stealing cash or valuable personal identifying information (PII) of customers. While security cameras or other forms of surveillance can help, these measures only work in the moment of a breach or after the theft has already taken place.
Customers experience feelings of unease when dropping off payments at a drop box, worried their payment or information could end up in the wrong hands. More concerning: these customers are more susceptible to fraud and identity theft. Cloud-based, self-service payment channels are designed to optimize the experience for all customers, significantly reducing security concerns and providing customers with confirmation of their payment on the spot.
2. Drop Boxes Are Not Intended to Collect Cash Payments
Most organizations do their best to discourage customers from leaving cash payments in the drop box. But without safe, flexible options, this becomes a tricky situation. In some areas, as many as 60% of customers make in-person payments by cash, and many are left without an accessible option. Taking time off work to travel to payment centers is an unnecessary burden for any customer to carry.
Without a secure option to make cash payments in person, many customers feel forced to risk it and place cash in the drop box anyway. As a solution, self-service payment channels like kiosks can provide a safe and secure way to collect payments from cash customers outside of set business hours.
“[Residents] love the kiosks. They love the fact that they can pull up at midnight and hop out of the car, go put their tax payments in the kiosks, and get a receipt. Prior to this, we had drop boxes and they were actually dropping tax payments in an unsecured drop box and walking away with no receipt.”
– Chief Operating Officer, City of Lakewood
3. Drop Boxes Delay Revenue Collection and Posting to Accounts
Every organization operates differently. Some collect items from drop boxes daily, while others do so less frequently. No matter how often your staff empty the drop box, these payments still require processing once they are retrieved. This can lead to delays in payment processing, which increases the risk of costly service shutoffs.
There is a cost to your staff as well. Maintenance workers might be forced to go out to shut the service off, then turn it back on once the customer’s payment has been received. This wastes valuable time and resources that could be better used to complete other important tasks.
Consolidating all payment channels onto a centralized platform can provide a massive reduction in processing delays, letting customers post payments to accounts instantly to avoid shutoffs or penalties.
4. Retrieving Payments From Drop Boxes Is a Big Security Risk For Staff
Staff are already busy helping customers at the counter and handling the back end of payment processing. Having to routinely step away to retrieve payments from the drop box misdirects valuable time and energy that could be spent elsewhere.
This is also a major security concern. Staff going to retrieve payments from an unsecured receptacle comes with risks. Ultimately, this entire responsibility could be completely eliminated by using secure, modern payment technology.
It’s Time to Leave Outdated Revenue Collection Behind
Drop boxes have always had their limitations, but many of those shortcomings have now turned into liabilities. Modern payment technology provides a more safe, accessible, and versatile alternative for revenue collection and reconciliation processes.
The added benefit to you and your staff is that cutting-edge tech will continue to evolve with the latest in security to thwart bad actors. An innovative vendor with a proactive approach to data security is an ideal partner to keep your customers’ payments and information safe. It’s time to ditch the drop box and make sure every payment is a secure payment. Your customers and staff will thank you.
Schedule a brief demo and test out modern options for the future of your payment processing.