First things first, what is school pay?
School pay was designed to be a multi-bank platform that enables school fees payers to use a payment code on mobile money and pay school fees that goes straight to the school bank account but also a payer who does not trust mobile money is able to use just that payment code at bank counter without any need of the bank slips.
The School Pay platform was launched in may 2016 with one bank (Centenary bank) and working well on both MTN and AIRTEL mobile money platform through their short codes *165# & *185#.
Today school pay is joined by three more banks (Stanbic bank, Post bank and Dfcu) with other two banks (Equity and Bank of Africa) integrating.
School Pay has now registered over 800,000 students and 1000 schools.
Who are the stakeholders and how do they stand to benefit?
Schools
After a school is convinced by an agent from the bank, the school registers it’s students to the platform and it chooses that bank to be the destination bank where it’s mobile money settles. Other wise if a school is multi banked, it will still choose one bank as the destination of it’s mobile money payments but payers who choose to go the bank directly are able to go any bank which banks for the school by just using the student payment code.
Benefits
1. School does not have to print any bank slips
2. A school is provided with web portal from which it reconciles all it’s payments.
3. Real time realization of mobile money transactions at the school bank account
4. School is able to view it’s bank statements through the portal
5. Schoolpay provides payment cards to all registered students to keep their payment code but also can work as a student’s ID
Banks
Benefits
Reduction of bank queues by redirecting school fees payers to mobile money
2. For the payers who don’t trust mobile money and prefer to come to the bank. By using our payment code it significantly reduces the amount of time a teller spends on a school fees payer.
3. It saves time and resources the bank uses in reconciling schools because every thing the school needs it’s in the schoolpay web portal.
4. Reduces the probability of mistakes that happen at the teller’s during payment process.
Telecoms
Benefits
1. School pay introduces new stream of mobile money revenue for the telecom companies.
2. It breeds a culture of using mobile money from a lower level. If one can use mobile money to pay school fees then he/she can trust it pay other services.
Parents & Students
1. Saves payers from long bank queues since one can make payment from his/her mobile money account in the comfort of his/her home .
2. Payer will just need to use the payment code so no bank slips. making school fees payment so easy.
3. Payer receives all necessary sms notifications including one that has a link to a computerized bank receipt.
4. A parent can check all his/her previous transaction history by visiting the schoolpay website or downloading our schoolpay android mobile app from the android play store.
5. Using schoolpay is very cheap. If one uses mobile money the rates for schoolpay transactions are very small compared to the normal mobile money rates and no bank charges. But if one prefers to go to the bank, the bank charges still applies.
