Colchester Council lands lifetime achievement award

Bacs recognises 25 years of Direct Debit promotion

Colchester Borough Council has been awarded a lifetime achievement award by Bacs Payment Schemes Limited (Bacs), recognising the local authority's outstanding contribution to Direct Debit promotion.

Following numerous campaigns that have helped the council increase the number of residents that pay by Direct Debit year on year, Colchester has been recognised by Bacs, the not-for-profit organisation.

The council prides itself on being a leader in the Direct Debit promotion stakes, and has run an array of campaigns and promotions spanning more than 20 years. These have ranged from simple mail shots, to more tailored creative advertising campaigns including the launch of an advantage card, which gave residents paying by Direct Debit discounts from local businesses.

Commeting, Phil Petit, ICT programme manager at Colchester Borough Council said: "In the early stages, our promotion of Direct Debit was very basic. We only really sent out one message to a mass audience, via a single mail shot. As times changed, we realised we would need some more sophisticated ways of communicating with our residents to sell them the benefits of Direct Debit usage. We made the decision to work with specialist research companies, who helped us to get a real feel for peple's perceptions of Direct Debit, and also confirm where we would need to target and invest our marketing spend, to get the very best results."

Staff at Colchester have played a key role in the promotion of Direct Debit over the years. When the councils' cash office closed, they highlighted the closure to residents, and actively encouraged them to switch over to Direct Debit. The council has also added seven new payment dates throughout each month, giving residents the option to choose a date to suit them.

Continuing, Phil said: "The promotion of Direct Debit now comes very naturally to our staff. they all appreciate the benefits Direct Debit can bring to our council, and they see the promotional elements of their job as an integral part of their role, not an additional task. We really are proud of our team and this award. It's always pleasing when hard work is recognised."

Colchester Borough Council also uses Direct Debit to collect national non domestic rates, housing rents, general invoices, benefit overpayments and leisure membership subscriptions. Since 2002, the number of people paying by Direct debit has risen by over 6,000 people.

Michael Chambers, managing director of Bacs said: "Colchester really seems to have embraced the idea of promoting Direct Debit and is working hard to send the correct messages, to the right people. It's clear to see the commitment given to their campaigns, and we are proud to work alongside councils like this who are dedicated to the cause. Congratulations to all the team. We look forward to seeing them grow usage even further and reaping even more benefits in the billing year ahead."

For more information about Bacs and our services visit Bacs key facts.

Contact Bacs press office.

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