Citing an increased use in smartphones, the Arkansas state government earlier this month launched a mobile Web site that enables residents to use their phones to pay for certain government services. Residents may access the Arkansas.gov mobile Web site using their phone’s browser to make prison inmate trust-account deposits; probation, parole and restitution payments; and Pulaski County property tax payments.
Arkansas is the first state to offer such a service, according to Janet Grard, general manager for the state’s information network service. “Given how dramatically mobile-phone use has grown during the last few years, we believe the payment side of mobile use also will expand quickly,” she says.
Last year, Arkansas residents initiated some 4 million payments to the state totaling more than $500 million, according to Grard. “Over time, we expect a high percentage of government payments to be processed via our mobile channel,” she adds.
Residents may make payments using a credit or debit card after entering the appropriate information into the required fields displayed on the phone screen.
Nic Inc., an Olathe, Kansas-based technology company that builds and manages state government Web sites, manages the payment process for Arkansas. The company uses a Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard-certified product to process payments.
Last year, Nic processed $11.7 billion in government payments on behalf of 25 states and local government agencies in Iowa and Indiana.
Nic plans to roll out the service in other states. “We’re eager to introduce mobile payments to as many of our state and local government partners as possible,” Christopher Neff, Nic vice president of marketing, tells PaymentsSource. Several states already have inquired about the service, he adds.
The Arkansas state government already had begun offering other types of mobile services. The state has three Apple Inc. iPhone applications available for download through the iTunes store that support state information such as important government phone numbers. Though none have any payment capabilities, residents from more than 18 different counties have downloaded a total of 17,000 apps. Arkansas has no immediate plans to add a payment function to its Arkansas.gov iPhone application.
“Arkansas consistently has been at the head of the pack in launching both mobile and payment processing services, and the mobile-payment solution was a natural next step for them,” Neff says.
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