{"id":5720,"date":"2021-03-03T13:20:03","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T12:20:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gpsj.co.uk\/?p=5720"},"modified":"2021-03-03T13:20:03","modified_gmt":"2021-03-03T12:20:03","slug":"90-local-authorities-and-housing-organisations-turn-to-paypoint-for-accessible-financial-support-for-struggling-families","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gpsj.co.uk\/?p=5720","title":{"rendered":"90 local authorities and housing organisations turn to PayPoint for accessible financial support for struggling families"},"content":{"rendered":"

South Lanarkshire Council confirms\u00a0\u2018Cash Out\u2019 delivers\u00a0immediate\u00a0and wider\u00a0access\u00a0to crucial\u00a0funds vs\u00a0vouchers<\/strong><\/p>\n

Increasing numbers of local authorities are utilising the instant cash solutions from PayPoint to financially help families quickly, as the effects of lockdown bring further suffering. Government free school meals and Winter Hardship\u00a0Fund\u00a0vouchers provided to recipients as an eGift card to be spent in a\u00a0certain\u00a0number of large supermarkets,\u00a0are\u00a0limiting convenience\u00a0and choice for thousands of\u00a0families.<\/p>\n

90 local authorities and housing\u00a0organisations\u00a0across the UK\u00a0are easing the financial impact of the pandemic in partnership with\u00a0PayPoint, including South Lanarkshire Council.\u00a0\u00a0The\u00a0council had\u00a0a\u00a0small scale but\u00a0longstanding relationship\u00a0with\u00a0PayPoint, which traditionally\u00a0supported\u00a0the provision of the Scottish Welfare Fund including crisis grant vouchers.\u00a0\u00a0The first Covid-19 Lockdown saw them\u00a0having to react quickly\u00a0to\u00a0facilitate the distribution of\u00a0school\u00a0meal\u00a0vouchers on mass and fast.\u00a0However,\u00a0PayPoint\u2019s\u00a0Cash Out\u00a0service\u00a0provided an immediate\u00a0means\u00a0of providing them with funds to help\u00a0them\u00a0feed their children in the absence\u00a0of free\u00a0school meals\u00a0and remains an essential\u00a0service\u00a0for its residents today.<\/p>\n

Delivering a fast and efficient payment solution<\/strong><\/p>\n

Stephen\u00a0Pendrich,\u00a0Benefits and Revenue Advisor\u00a0for\u00a0South Lanarkshire Council\u00a0explains: \u201cEarly in the first Lockdown, we knew we needed to find a fast and efficient solution to deliver school meal payments\u00a0to all of our eligible residents in need of financial support.\u00a0eGift vouchers for large supermarkets were not inclusive enough, particularly considering the geographical challenges in\u00a0South Lanarkshire.<\/p>\n

\u201cPayPoint\u00a0stepped in to\u00a0deliver\u00a0an instant answer\u00a0when we urgently needed it.\u00a0 At first,\u00a0we saw a 70%-80% redemption rate, but this grew to an average of\u00a091%\u00a0following further communication from the council.\u00a0To this day,\u00a0PayPoint\u2019s\u00a0Cash Out remains a\u00a0vital\u00a0service\u00a0for our residents, alongside bank transfer which we later introduced to offer as an alternative way of providing financial support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Extending the benefits to the wider community<\/strong><\/p>\n

In addition to\u00a0delivering\u00a0immediate financial aid to families, other councils working with PayPoint are using Cash Out to reimburse the travel expenses of the wonderful volunteers who tirelessly delivered medicines and prescriptions to individuals shielding during\u00a0 lockdown.\u00a0This is\u00a0easing the financial strain on the community during these stressful times, as well as supporting local businesses by encouraging more customers into local stores in the PayPoint network.<\/p>\n

PayPoint\u2019s Cash Out solution works in real-time to seamlessly enable eligible families to receive vouchers via email, letter or SMS to be presented to obtain a cash payment.\u00a0 Demonstrating the speed at which people can benefit from the service, a PayPoint Cash Out voucher was recorded as having been presented to obtain cash just over a minute from receipt1<\/sup>.\u00a0 There are over 27,700 retailers across the UK providing access to Cash Out, offering greater convenience than the eGift card alternative, which is limited to specific supermarkets. Access to the Cash Out facility is via an online portal which removes the need for local authorities to invest in any development and requires minimal setup, easing the burden of the Covid-19 crisis.<\/p>\n

Danny Vant,\u00a0Client Services Director of\u00a0digital payment expert,\u00a0PayPoint,\u00a0commented;\u00a0\u201cThe eGift voucher solution works for many families, but it also excludes, inconveniences or\u00a0limits\u00a0many others. Offering flexible payment solutions means families can choose the best option for them, whether that is a bank transfer, supermarket eGift voucher or cash to spend in a smaller, more local and more familiar shop.<\/p>\n

\u201cPayPoint\u00a0is committed to providing consumers and businesses with the best, real-time payment solutions. Helping families to gain access to the financial support they need, helping them to\u00a0manage\u00a0their current challenges,\u00a0is an important part of this commitment. With Cash Out, local authorities\u00a0can broaden their\u00a0range of pay out solutions to meet the needs of all of their residents receiving government support.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Meeting the demand of those most in need<\/strong><\/p>\n

PayPoint surveyed those in social grades C2, D and E, with 1 in 4 confirming they are eligible for at least one of the government\u2019s hardship schemes. 23% of those redeeming vouchers said the benefit would be significantly greater if it was available as cash to spend at their local convenience store, rather than needing them to visit a large supermarket. The government\u2019s voucher scheme requires people to redeem the voucher in person, at a supermarket, adding to the burden of those most vulnerable and most in need of support. 38% of people dependent upon government funding expressed concerns about travelling to supermarkets on public transport and the high-volume o other people shopping there. Furthermore, 19% said they had experienced delays when using the government voucher scheme due to the complicated redemption process.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For further information visit\u00a0PayPoint\u00a0Cash Out<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Lanarkshire Council confirms \u2018Cash Out\u2019 delivers immediate and wider access to crucial funds vs vouchers<\/p>\n

Increasing numbers of local authorities are utilising the instant cash solutions from PayPoint to financially help families quickly, as the effects of lockdown bring further suffering. Government free school meals and Winter Hardship Fund vouchers provided to <\/p>\n

Continue reading 90 local authorities and housing organisations turn to PayPoint for accessible financial support for struggling families<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1834,11,2,9],"tags":[1705,1109,25,264,1830,1645,2261,416,1748,2260],"class_list":["post-5720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-covid-19","category-finance-investment","category-local-authority-councils","category-nhs-healthcare","tag-covid-19","tag-finance","tag-government-public-sector-journal","tag-gpsj-magazine","tag-lockdown","tag-payments","tag-paypoint","tag-public-sector-journal","tag-secretary-of-state-for-health","tag-south-lanarkshire-council","odd"],"yoast_head":"\n90 local authorities and housing organisations turn to PayPoint for accessible financial support for struggling families - Government & Public Sector Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gpsj.co.uk\/?p=5720\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"90 local authorities and housing organisations turn to PayPoint for accessible financial support for struggling families - Government & Public Sector Journal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"South Lanarkshire Council confirms \u2018Cash Out\u2019 delivers immediate and wider access to crucial funds vs vouchers Increasing numbers of local authorities are utilising the instant cash solutions from PayPoint to financially help families quickly, as the effects of lockdown bring further suffering. 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