CityBase Product Updates Designed with Clients in Mind: Fall 2022 Edition

CityBase is excited to share some recent updates to the CityBase Platform. The team leveraged valuable client feedback from Net Promoter Score (NPS) surveys, in-person conversations with clients, and internal innovation-focused brainstorming sessions to come up with these new features, designed to make it easier to connect with customers and save time in the back office. 

But there is more. Keep reading for a sneak peek of more exciting developments that are coming soon to CityBase payment platforms. 

New Features

Partial refunds now available in Revenue Management 

Revenue Management is CityBase’s powerful reconciliation and reporting software and is included with every CityBase product. Designed to help staff resolve any bill payment discrepancies on the back-end, it already offers impressive functionality to staff. And now with the latest update, CityBase added new features to allow staff to issue refunds with even more versatility. 

The refund screen with options that allow staff to issue partial or full refunds to customers.
Revenue Management, 2022. 

Oftentimes, staff collect payments for multiple bills in a single transaction and afterward, only one or two bills from the initial transaction require a refund. Other times, payment for a bill is collected based on an estimate, and later when the actual amount due is determined, the difference is returned to the customer in the form of a check. This delays the return of funds to customers and belabors the reconciliation process for staff, often requiring manual processing to issue refunds. 

The CityBase Team brainstormed solutions and designed two new refund options. The first option allows staff to refund one or more items in a given transaction and the second option allows staff to refund a specific dollar amount to a customer, thereby expediting the return of funds to customers and streamlining the reconciliation process for staff.  

These new configuration options in Revenue Management mean staff  have more control over their refund policy and are able to provide more options to customers while avoiding cumbersome workarounds.  

Revenue Management now supports three different types of refunds. They include:

• Partial refund of whole items 
• Partial refund of any dollar amount
• Full refund

Point of Sale Single Sign-On (SSO) Brings More Simplicity and Security

Single sign-on (SSO) is a cutting-edge authentication technology that allows one sign-on for multiple applications and is supported by CityBase’s Point of Sale product. This is another CityBase staff-facing product and the addition of SSO means users only need to sign-in once to access Revenue Management, Point of Sale, and any other existing integrated SSO applications. 

CityBase POS home screen with SSO functionality. CityBase POS, 2022

In addition to creating a seamless login experience, SSO allows organizations to take advantage of CityBase’s best-in-class security features to ensure regulatory compliance and exceed standards within a client’s technology ecosystem. Clients can control who logs into the Point of Sale platform using the organization’s current user directory. This ensures the highest level of security while providing the best experience to staff who will not need to remember yet another password.

Additional Updates and Improvements

Autopay – Improved Messaging

Autopay is the best way to ensure on-time payments from customers and avoid delayed revenue while providing a seamless experience for all. And clear, easy to understand messaging is essential to encouraging high adoption of this offering. 

Prior to the update, customers received email communications about autopay interactions, including payment receipts, payment failures, payment reminders, and confirmation that autopay is on or off. 

CityBase autopay email. CityBase Profile, 2022

But the CityBase Product team felt they could improve these notifications to provide more specific information to customers about their accounts. For instances where clients offer autopay access to customers for bills from multiple agencies, the additional specificity helps customers stay more organized and aids in referring back to payments should any discrepancies arise. The feedback from customers has already been very positive and the staff spends less time answering questions.

Coming Soon

Revenue Management – Stronger Authentication

CityBase is always innovating to keep its platform as secure as possible which is why it is partnering with industry-leading provider Otka to enhance the authentication protocols and make it easier to provide an even more secure SSO login experience to staff.

Point of Sale – More Agency Admin Features

CityBase is adding new features to the agency administrator role to better assist cashiers. With the upcoming update, supervisors will be able to take over a cashier’s session and perform a closeout for them. This will free up a terminal so another employee can be stationed there and ensure sessions are closed in line with the agency’s operating procedures.

CityBase is Always Innovating

CityBase continues to innovate and release new product updates regularly. Local government and utility companies across the nation have benefited from partnering with CityBase to implement self-service payment kiosks, web payment platforms, mobile payment solutions, and Point of Sale (POS) payment platforms, expanding bill payment access to customers, and streamlining processes and expanding functionality for staff.