Direct Debit System & FinTech zenda to simplify school fee payments

By Delisha Fernandes

Direct Debit System, has partnered with FinTech start-up, zenda, to simplify the payment of tuition and education-related services through an automated, digitised process.

The collaboration will improve the efficiency of payment collection for education institutions, while offering parents the flexibility to pay fees on a monthly basis.

As other industries accelerate the shift to automation and digitisation, the education sector lags behind, with half of payments still being made through cash or cheques. The new partnership will integrate zenda’s user-friendly payment app with the paperless Direct Debit System to enable parents to settle school bills with pay-now and pay-later options. In addition to tuition fees, families can also explore other services, such as transport and meals, to expand their payment options through the app.

The combined technology has been specifically developed to integrate with platforms used in the educational sector to facilitate end-to-end digitisation, improving controls and cash-flow predictability and eliminating the need for manual reconciliations. At the same time, it provides families with the opportunity to manage household budgets more effectively through customised recurring payment plans.

Ummair Butt, Founder and CEO, Direct Debit, said, “This agreement with zenda is another important milestone in our mission to provide an alternative to the age old practice of bulk cheque payments. Combining four bulk cheques for annual rent and three cheques for school fee payments can amount to over 50% of the average salary in the UAE. By settling those recurring expenses through a monthly digital payment system rather than advance paper-based cheques, the 96% monthly salaried people in the UAE can budget better to stay out of debt and protect their credit score.”

Raman Thiagarajan, Co-Founder zenda, said, “We are very excited to collaborate with Direct Debit System, a pioneer in offering a fully digital recurring payments platform in the UAE. Our services will help education institutions in offering flexibility to their parents, while enhancing their collection efficiency at the same time.”