70% of parents think a mobile app makes it easier to pay!

We took to social media to ask parents their views on school Online Payments systems and the results were very interesting…

Over 6500 parents took part in our survey and we had feedback from people using almost every type of payment system, which meant we could see if some systems were more reliable and ‘liked’ by parents, than others! It seems that systems which allow parents to do everything within one account and through a mobile app came out on top – which was great news for us here at ParentMail!

Here’s a look at some of the key things parents told us:

• Of those who used an online payments system, 77% are very satisfied with it.
• For those using ParentMail for Online Payments, 82% are very satisfied.
• 70% said they thought paying on a mobile app was the easiest way.
• Only 40% of those asked were able to do everything school related from just one account.
• And yet, 80% of parents said they would prefer to be able to access it all from one.
• We were shocked to hear that 5% of people said their schools use more than 5 systems to communicate with them!

What can schools do to make improvements for their parents?

Those who told us they don’t have access to an Online Payments System, voiced concerns over security, reliability and how convenient paying online is…however, those who do use an online payments system gave an average score of 8.5 out of 10 for reliability, security, ease of use and convenience. If you’re thinking of launching a new Online Payments System within school, make sure you know how secure, reliable and easy to use it will be, so that you can reassure your parents ahead of time!

66% of parents also told us they prefer to pay by debit card, making it the most popular payment method. However, almost 50% also told us that they would like the option to pay through PayPal – when looking at new payment systems, make sure you find out in advance what payment options are available so that you can give parents what they want!

The results of this survey have been extremely useful and we’ll be using these stats in our future marketing materials and to help schools who are thinking about using ParentMail for Online Payments to understand their potential parent concerns and wants! Thank you to all who took part!

If you’re a school looking to consolidate all your systems into one, or if you’d like to use a reliable Online Payments system which allows your parents to top up on a mobile app, get in touch today and we’ll be more than happy to help! Call us on 01733 595959 or email enquire@parentmail.co.uk