Australians are urging local government councils to provide more payment options to help them manage their finances, amid cost-of-living pressures. New research from American Express shows that a quarter (24 per cent) of Australians are frustrated with the limited payment methods for settling council expenses. 

Some Australian councils fail to provide adequate options for payments, including not accepting all types of card payments,made by ratepayers and local businesses, because they assume there isn’t a need within their communities. However, with roughly 300 million Australian purchases made on a credit or charge card each month, there is a huge opportunity for councils to provide more options beyond debit, phone or in-person payments. 

Australians are looking for more creative ways to manage bills and improve cashflow, in line with tightened household budgets. Almost one in two homeowners (45 per cent) believe the process would be easier if councils provided more payment options, while 71 per cent of individuals say they’re feeling stressed about household bill payments – including council bills – and have had to change how they pay them. Over a third (39 per cent) of homeowners feel that being offered benefits, such as credit card reward points, would make the process easier for them. 

Councils that do offer more financial flexibility are seeing a range of benefits. Wyndham City Council, located on the western edge of Melbourne, recently broadened its payment options to include American Express, after residents and local businesses expressed a need for a wider variety of payment methods. 

“We were receiving direct customer feedback for American Express, particularly from the small business community,” says Wyndham City Council Coordinator of Finance Operations, Mary-Jane Moala. “Those customers were seeking to take advantage of Amex points and rewards for larger recurring payments like rates.”

The council rolled out credit card options to all online payments and EFTPOS merchant facilities across its operations, with plans to expand this to other partner payments in the future. The new payment options quickly generated a large volume of high-value transactions, with particularly high adoption from ratepayers and business stakeholders.

“It’s about providing flexible payment choices and improving customer experience,” Moala says. “There’s nothing worse than when customers can’t make a payment because their preferred option isn’t available. We wanted to make it as easy as possible and take those restrictions off the table.”

The American Express research reveals that while 71 per cent of Australians believe councils play an important role in enriching their communities, just 14 per cent say they would never pay a council bill late. The research also found that only a third of Australian homeowners pay their council rates early(33 per cent), while 60 per cent wait until the due date.

Credit cards offer critical flexibility and can help residents and local businesses to pay their council bills on time. Almost three in 10 Australians (29 per cent) that carry a card use them to pay bills because they allow them to make repayments in instalments.

The steps taken by councils like Wyndham City aren’t just about adding convenience; they’re about responding to the evolving needs of their communities.

“We’d recommend councils that haven’t introduced credit card payment options to jump on board,” Moala says. “The cost is now comparable to that of existing merchant fees, and the ongoing administration and financial reconciliation is manageable. We have had a positive experience from expanding our payment options through Amex.”

Comment below to have your say on this story.

If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@governmentnews.com.au.  

Sign up to the Government News newsletter