HomeMy WebLinkAboutFIN 2019-04-22 Item 2A - Discussion - Update on New Cashiering SystemCity of Tukwila
Allan Ekberg, Mayor
INFORMATIONAL MEMORANDUM
TO: Finance Committee
FROM: Vicky Carlsen, Finance Director
BY: Aaron Williams, Fiscal Coordinator
CC: Mayor Ekberg
DATE: April 22, 2019
SUBJECT: Briefing on new cashiering system
ISSUE
Update the Finance Committee on the implementation of Tyler Cashiering, the new cashiering
system for the Finance Department and City Clerk's office.
BACKGROUND
The point of sale cashiering system used by the Finance Department and the City Clerk's office,
Core Cashiering, was purchased and implemented in January 2009, almost ten years ago. In
recent years, consideration has been given to purchasing a new cashiering system because the
existing system functions slowly and system support and upgrades have been discontinued by
the vendor. In June 2018, the need for a new system became more urgent. The Payment Card
Industry (PCI) standards became more stringent requiring a more secure encryption protocol —
Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.2 - effective June 30, 2018. Because the Core Cashiering
system did not comply with this protocol, a work around was developed by the City's TIS
Department to achieve compliance. Under the TIS-developed solution, credit card transactions
are processed using a two-step method. First, the credit card payment is processed using an
online terminal. Next, the transaction is recorded into the Core Cashiering system by entering
the last four digits of the credit card, the credit card expiration date, and the transaction
authorization number from the online credit card terminal. This solution solved the immediate
problem but proved to be a very time-consuming process.
At the November 5, 2018 City Council Regular Meeting, Council authorized the purchase of the
new cashiering system, Tyler Cashiering.
DISCUSSION
Implementation and go -live for Tyler Cashiering was the week of March 11th with the system going
live on the morning of Thursday, March 14th. The three days prior to go -live, staff from Finance,
City Clerk, TIS and Police worked with the vendor to configure and train on the new system.
Tyler Cashiering has an intuitive, user friendly interface which provides a more streamlined
experience with a direct integration into Eden, has the ability to run on laptops (in addition to the
cashiering stations) and ultimately improves efficiencies. In the past month since implementing
the new cashiering system, staff have noticed significant improvements in their processing of
transactions, closing & balancing batches as well as reporting and researching transactions within
the system.
INFORMATIONAL MEMO
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This new cashiering system provides real-time processing for utility payments, which has allowed
staff to see all payments applied to customer accounts immediately (especially helpful during
shut-off times). With the old Core Cashiering system, payments would not have been reflected
on the customer accounts until after the payment batch was closed, processed and imported into
Eden.
One of the most noticeable improvements has been with credit card processing, which no longer
requires two-step processing, and has been a welcome improvement for both city staff as well as
the public. Credit card payments are now more secure and the city is in compliance with the more
stringent Payment Card Industry (PCI) standards.
Check processing has also become more efficient with the new system. The receipt printers
include functionality which allows for automatic endorsement and check image capture. In the
coming months, Finance staff will be evaluating the use of the cash image letter function which
will transmit all check deposits directly to the bank. This will provide more timely daily deposits
and increase the city's average daily balance with the bank which will lower bank fees.
Lastly, with the Tyler Cashiering, staff can log into the cashiering system from their own
workstations and no longer must use one of the cashiering stations at the counter to access the
system. With this feature the Police Department is able to utilize the cashiering system to process
payments related to the secure mailbox program without needing to send the customer over the
Finance and then come back to PD in order to complete their transaction.
TIS and Finance plan to work together to identify other opportunities to expand Tyler Cashiering
to other departments in the future.
RECOMMENDATION
For information only.
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