How Hutt City Council Modernised Rates Payments and Prepared for Water Reform
Hutt City managed rates the same way for 25+ years. Arrears hit 5%. Direct debit stalled at 44%. Then they went live with Payble - and processed $5.5M across 21,354 plans without staff loading a single one.
What you will learn
From 44% to self-serve at scale
Direct debit uptake had stalled for years. Within weeks of offering flexible weekly, fortnightly and auto-pay options, ratepayers proved the demand was always there - 80.3% signed up via mobile without staff involvement.
3,200-4,300 hours returned to the rates team
Automating plan setup, changes and repairs created real bandwidth before Tiaki Wai water invoices land on the same stretched team.
Live in 10 weeks, not 13
Payble built the implementation around Hutt City's timeline - planning, banking setup, configuration, testing and go-live - and delivered 3 weeks ahead of schedule with no core system replacement.
About the Speaker
Alicia Andrews is Finance Transaction Services Manager at Hutt City Council, where she led the council's transition from manual rates payment processes to guided self-service. She oversees payment operations for 115,000 residents across one of Wellington's most complex rates portfolios. Dailius Wilson is Chief Revenue Officer at Payble, helping councils across Australia and New Zealand modernise payment operations without replacing core systems.
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