Posted on

How CMS Integration with Payment Processing Benefits Courts

[av_image src=’http://home.ncourt.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/cms-integration-benefits-email.jpg’ attachment=’3606′ attachment_size=’full’ align=’center’ styling=” hover=” link=” target=” caption=” font_size=” appearance=” overlay_opacity=’0.4′ overlay_color=’#000000′ overlay_text_color=’#ffffff’ animation=’no-animation’ custom_class=”][/av_image]

[av_image src=’http://home.ncourt.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/cms-integration-benefits-833-v2.jpg’ attachment=’3220′ attachment_size=’full’ align=’center’ styling=” hover=” link=” target=” caption=” font_size=” appearance=” overlay_opacity=’0.4′ overlay_color=’#000000′ overlay_text_color=’#ffffff’ animation=’no-animation’ custom_class=”][/av_image]

[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=” custom_class=”]
Integrating your case management system (CMS) and payment processing solution might seem intimidating or complex. For instance, many government agencies are challenged with fragmented data, costly manual processes, delayed ticket notifications, cross-functional roadblocks, and inconsistent public access points. CMS integration does not add to the problem; rather, it is the solution to the problem.

CMS Integration Helps You Do More with Less

Many courts face decisions around implementing the best payment processing solution and CMS to effectively support its expanding operations. Even courts with access to sophisticated technologies can quickly become entangled with a complex application landscape. An effective CMS integration benefits courts and simplifies payment processing in the following ways:

  • Helps to improve the accuracy of records and citizen data.
  • Performs consistently so that administrators can rely on the data without question.
  • Aids in reducing cash handling and accounting errors.
  • Provides the ability to automate reconciliation.
  • Enables integration with multiple platforms, including cash, check, ACH, mobile payment, custom-branded payment sites, and off-premise payment locations.

Court and government administration is a stressful profession. With limited staff and budgets, it can be hard for agencies large and small to find the bandwidth needed to efficiently serve citizens. Finding a payment processing solutions that easily integrates with a CMS provides courts with the means to handle reporting, reconciliation, and payments in a convenient and efficient manner.

An Overview of CMS Integration Benefits

The promise of CMS integration with payment processing is alluring to many courts; however, they fear a steep learning curve along with a misunderstanding of the complexities associated with integrating a new system. Regardless of your current CMS or financial software system, a reliable provider will offer a flexible payment solution that integrates seamlessly, making reporting, reconciliation, and payments easy and secure for you and your staff.

Payment processing integrated with CMS or financial management software offers a host of benefits:

  • From citation origination and case processing to accepting payments, integrating applications saves money and improves results.
  • Integration with existing software is easy and can be configured to best suit a variety of setups, including web and cloud-based, hosted, on-premises, mainframe, and client-server integrations.
  • A knowledgeable and experienced solution provider will offer support, even if you decide to upgrade or change your system provider.

As a result of the widespread technology improvements in the payment processing industry, nCourt is helping to reshape how courts and government agencies approach their operational challenges. We achieve this with multiple integration options that improve the speed, accuracy, centralization, and security of data exchanged between payment and CMS platforms.

CMS Implementation is Hard … But Integration Can Be Easy

CMS with payment integration benefits an entire court system including its citizens; however, many courts are operating on an “if-it’s-not-broken, don’t-fix-it” mentality that relegates them to an understaffed, overburdened mode. Fear of technology constraints—and change in general—are causing courts of all sizes to miss out on the many benefits a CMS integration can provide. This type of integration enables you to more proficiently serve citizens with the resources on hand—doing a better job more effectively and with less effort. Don’t miss out! Simply request your free payment processing demo to see how we can help!
[/av_textblock]

[av_social_share title=’Share this entry’ style=’minimal’ buttons=” custom_class=”]

Posted on

What is Mobile Point-of-Sale (mPOS) Technology?

[av_image src=’http://home.ncourt.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/pos-mobile.jpg’ attachment=’3608′ attachment_size=’full’ align=’center’ styling=” hover=” link=” target=” caption=” font_size=” appearance=” overlay_opacity=’0.4′ overlay_color=’#000000′ overlay_text_color=’#ffffff’ animation=’no-animation’ custom_class=”][/av_image]

[av_image src=’http://home.ncourt.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/mobile-point-of-sale-3.jpg’ attachment=’3011′ attachment_size=’full’ align=’center’ styling=” hover=” link=” target=” caption=” font_size=” appearance=” overlay_opacity=’0.4′ overlay_color=’#000000′ overlay_text_color=’#ffffff’ animation=’no-animation’ custom_class=”][/av_image]

[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=” custom_class=”]
Mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) technology enables payment through online, tablet, and mobile phone avenues and it is growing in popularity by the moment. Basically, with an mPOS app installed, this technology makes a wireless device act as a cash register or electronic point-of-sale terminal. The app is linked to the users’ credit card or bank account, and the business or organization taking payment simply uses a digital reader to conduct the whole transaction. So instead of carrying a wallet and checkbook and going through a manual payment process, mPOS simplifies payment by using whatever wireless device works best for the user.

A report from Global Market Insights reveals the current widespread adoption of mPOS technology as well as its bright future. According to the report, mPOS terminals will have a compound annual growth rate of more than 19% from 2016 through 2023. At this rate, payment via wireless technology will quickly become the norm from industries ranging from healthcare to grocery shopping.

Mobility Equates to Convenience for Courts and Citizens Alike

Enabling citizens to make payments via mPOS terminals is a win-win for both courts and payees. The convenience of mobility offers the following benefits to courts and citizens alike:

  • Reduces overhead costs
  • Makes it convenient and easy to make payments
  • Increases productivity and simplifies the process of those taking payments
  • Eliminates the time delay of payment processing

How mPOS Increases Value

mPOS technology is quickly and continually evolving. As such, current mPOS terminals provide additional value to judiciary systems and the citizens they serve. These developments are making it even easier for citizens to make payments wherever and whenever it’s convenient, saving time and effort for courts. The reality is, it’s become critical for all service providers (including the courts) to keep a pulse on technology. Although there are—and always will be—other payment options available, mPOS has proven to be the preferred payment option for everything from hamburgers to doctor’s visits. As such, courts need to ensure their technology can interface with citizens’ mobile payment preferences. As this technology becomes more available to cash paying citizens, courts should be focused on making mPOS a viable form of payment before the market opens—not after. Early adoption and staying ahead of the curve ensures public trust and positive opinion and eases the processing burden on courts.

Omni-Channel Payments are the Optimal Option

The rapid widespread adoption of mPOS highlights the importance of omnichannel payments. With nCourt, you can offer citizens’ multiple payment options, including online, phone, or at the counter in your offices. Our innovative payment solutions offer citizens the ability to pay for traffic citations, parking tickets, restitution, court fines and fees, probation, and more using a major credit or debit card and with no processing costs to you. In fact, citizens can pay using any mobile device, including smartphones and tablets. Simply request your free payment processing demo and we will be happy to provide an overview!
[/av_textblock]

[av_social_share title=’Share this entry’ style=’minimal’ buttons=” custom_class=”]

Posted on

Why Every Court Needs EMV Card Readers

[av_image src=’http://home.ncourt.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/emv-card-readers.gif’ attachment=’3609′ attachment_size=’full’ align=’center’ styling=” hover=” link=” target=” caption=” font_size=” appearance=” overlay_opacity=’0.4′ overlay_color=’#000000′ overlay_text_color=’#ffffff’ animation=’no-animation’ custom_class=”][/av_image]

[av_image src=’http://home.ncourt.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/emv-card-readers-5.jpg’ attachment=’3016′ attachment_size=’full’ align=’center’ styling=” hover=” link=” target=” caption=” font_size=” appearance=” overlay_opacity=’0.4′ overlay_color=’#000000′ overlay_text_color=’#ffffff’ animation=’no-animation’ custom_class=”][/av_image]

[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=” custom_class=”]
Citizens have been known to pay court fines with stolen credit cards. Don’t believe it? The Michigan Department of Corrections recently charged a 25-year-old man with fraud after he attempted to pay his probation restitution with a stolen card. The incident serves as a reminder that courts and government agencies are not exempt from credit card fraud. The good news is that fraud has been declining due to EMV (Europay, Mastercard®, and Visa®) chip cards and point-of-sale (POS) card readers. EMV enabled payment devices offer the courts a viable solution to help prevent credit card fraud within card-present environments.

What Is EMV?

The EMV standard has been available internationally for some time and was adopted in the United States in 2015. This global standard employs microchip technology for authentication embedded on the card, rather than traditional swipe cards with magnetic strip authentication.

What Are the Benefits of EMV?

When hackers are able to steal magnetic strip data, it can be used over and over for fraudulent purposes. In contrast, EMV makes use of point-to-point encryption (P2PE). The chips on EMV cards create a new and unique code for each transaction at the POS, which is used for that specific transaction only. If a hacker breaches the POS and steals the data, it will be useless. As research director Julie Conroy of financial industry research company Aite Group explains, “These new and improved cards are being deployed to improve payment security, making it more difficult for fraudsters to successfully counterfeit cards. It’s an important step forward.”

How Do EMV Card Readers Help Courts?

The widespread adoption of EMV cards in the United States means that more people will become familiar with and look for EMV card readers when making payments. According to Visa’s December 2016 chip card update, last year saw a 92% increase in Visa chip cards compared with the previous year. Courts that offer EMV card readers provide a secure and simple on-premises payment method that enables citizens to pay quickly and conveniently. And EMV card readers provide security for both the payer and payee—Visa reports a 52% decrease in counterfeit fraud at chip-enabled merchants in September 2016 alone (compared with September 2015).

Securely Collect Court Fines On-Premises

At nCourt, we are continually working to make payment processing easier and more secure for you and the paying citizens you serve. This evolution includes offering Payment Card Industry (PCI)-compliant EMV devices that use point-to-point encryption to enable quick and secure countertop payment on-premises.

Please contact nCourt for an initial consultation and evaluation of your current payment process. We’re here to help!
[/av_textblock]

[av_social_share title=’Share this entry’ style=’minimal’ buttons=” custom_class=”]

Posted on

Access to Justice: The Future of Court Payment Processing

[av_image src=’http://home.ncourt.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/access-to-justice.jpg’ attachment=’3601′ attachment_size=’full’ align=’center’ styling=” hover=” link=” target=” caption=” font_size=” appearance=” overlay_opacity=’0.4′ overlay_color=’#000000′ overlay_text_color=’#ffffff’ animation=’no-animation’ custom_class=”][/av_image]

[av_image src=’http://home.ncourt.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/access-to-justice-2.1.gif’ attachment=’3054′ attachment_size=’full’ align=’center’ styling=” hover=” link=” target=” caption=” font_size=” appearance=” overlay_opacity=’0.4′ overlay_color=’#000000′ overlay_text_color=’#ffffff’ animation=’no-animation’ custom_class=”][/av_image]

[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=” custom_class=”]
As a result of the national attention gained by Ferguson, Missouri, a nationwide forum is beginning to take shape. This forum, called “Justice for All,” explores how to provide access to justice for those who cannot pay fines as a result of hardship, social inequities, or lack of payment options available to them as citizens. This first part in our series explores how to look beyond payment as a transaction and focus on how payment options can be enhanced to meet the best interest of both the court and its citizens.

What Policies are Recommended to Improve Access to Justice?

The “Justice for All” forum stresses that fines and fees are meant to be a deterrent, not a catastrophic financial burden. As such, the forum provides suggestions and policies for courts to adopt in an effort to help mitigate judicial and financial risk. Examples of policies that support access to justice include:

  • Enabling the judge’s discretion to set reasonable penalties
  • Basing a defendant’s payment options and plans on their ability to pay
  • Offering alternatives to paying fines, such as community service or participating in treatment programs
  • Promoting the defendant’s voluntary appearance in court by sending reminders via phone and text to avoid the issuance of failure to appear (FTA)
  • Using the suspension of driver’s licenses as a last resort rather than a first step, as doing so often has a negative impact on a defendant’s ability to pay
  • Establishing non-jail enforcement alternatives to avoid the costs and associated implications of jail time
  • Handling special needs (ADA) offenses appropriately in addition to addressing potential mental health issues

Evaluating the Relationship Between Courts and Citizens

Many courts and government agencies have begun evaluating their relationship with citizens by examining the payment process within the judicial ecosystem. Opening multiple payment channels provides an opportunity for courts and government agencies to better and more effectively serve citizens as well as extend service offerings beyond the transaction itself. This approach has long-term rewards, ranging from increased operational efficiency to minimized occurrences of late payments and case closures.

Each judicial system will have to determine which services and payment options best fit their processes, serve their citizens, and reduce the court’s burden. For instance, by offering recurring payment plans, citizens can make timely automated payments for restitution, which enables citizens who do not have the financial means to pay the full compensation as a single one-time payment. In addition, if courts provide only on-premise payments, it can put a burden on citizens that live in rural areas, potentially causing loss of payments and delay in case closures.

As courts and government agencies make these choices, they will need help tracking community service and other non-financial items (e.g., tracking consequential payments that are not monetary in value, such as community service). And if the government is not funding new legislative mandates, courts will be left carrying the financial burden, which could have a negative impact on revenue for the courts. To aid courts, a reputable payment service provider can act as a trusted advisor to the court and its administrators, helping them reshape their approach to payment acceptance, by implementing long-term solutions that drive positive results for the judicial systems and its citizens.

How nCourt is Shaping a New Perspective on Payments

Every court grapples with decisions around implementing the best payment processing services and case management system (CMS) to support its ever-changing operations. Even courts with access to sophisticated technologies can quickly become entangled with a complex application process. Helping courts streamline their payment process and move towards greater access to justice is a relatively new concept with many payment providers for judicial systems; however, it’s not new to nCourt.

Limited public access to justice, fragmented court processes, reduced financial resources, delayed notification between key personnel in the judicial and enforcement divisions, coupled with roadblocks to obtaining affordable cutting edge technology, are typical challenges for courts, especially if they lack integration between their payment and CMS solutions. Most important, without a solid interface linking these core platforms, courts may unknowingly increase greater risk exposure, that can be damaging and reduce the public’s trust in the judiciary.

nCourt believes that the future of payment processing looks beyond the payment transaction, and how government agencies can improve service to citizens, rather than merely collecting payments. Therefore, one of the best ways to enhance services to citizens is to provide payment options conveniently accessible inside and outside of the courthouse.

With the growing technological advancement in judicial and governmental practices, nCourt has helped thousands of courts alleviate the pressure of falling behind in adopting innovative payment solutions and services. We partner with the courts, to deliver well-designed, easy and secure integration methods, and together we provide timely information and payment options to all citizens.

Please contact nCourt for an initial consultation and evaluation of your current payment processing program. We’re here to help!
[/av_textblock]

[av_social_share title=’Share this entry’ style=” buttons=” custom_class=”]