Smart e-payment solutions can help govt agencies: Visa Poll

Karachi: When it comes to managing public funds, more than half of the Asia Pacific government agencies polled in a Visa survey say they are most challenged to get the job done by budget cuts, pressure to streamline operations, and late payments. 

The poll also revealed that these agencies are not able to optimize efficiencies because they rely heavily on manual processes and cash and checks when making payments to vendors and citizens.

“The reliance on cash and checks causes many of the administrative inefficiencies that agencies face today and are a hindrance to the important social and economic work they need to do. Moving to an electronic payments and reporting system from a paper-based one, would resolve many of the issues associated with the complexity of managing public funds and help agencies save money, and improve productivity and transparency,” said Olivia Leong, Regional Director, Enterprise and Government Commercial Solutions, Asia Pacific, Central Europe, Middle East and Africa, Visa.

The Visa poll revealed that the top two challenges faced by public funds managers were funding cuts (58 percent) and the need to drive efficiency improvements (57 percent). Other issues this group needed to address were tackling late payments (41 percent), improving accountability for the management of public funds (39 percent) and the shadow economy (25 percent). More than half of those polled (58 percent) also said they still rely on cash and checks to pay beneficiaries and businesses.

Visa has helped public sector organizations around the world, including those from Australia, New Zealand, Pakistan and South Korea, adopt electronic payment technologies.

(Respondent base=100)Public funding cuts58%Efficiency improvements57%Late payments41%Improving accountability for public funds39%Tackling shadow economy25%Security and trust16%

(Respondent base=100)Electronic funds transfer50%Checks34%Cash24%Payment cards11%