SIMS Agora

Product guide

NEW

SIMS Agora Features

The online payments solution from SIMS

✓ Really easy to use✓ Links with SIMS and SIMS Dinner

Money for automatic updates✓ Fast, secure payments to the school✓ Parents manage their own login details✓ Combined view for parents of all

their children✓ Enables payment for meals, trips,

clubs, uniform and much more

SIMS Agora - The online payments solution

Streamlined administrationAs an integrated SIMS solution, Agora provides automatic links with SIMS - keeping all information together securely.

SIMS Agora provides a range of dashboard, on-screen and interactive reports to support payment administration and reconciliation.

Improved efficiencyWith a focus on security, safety, and ease-of-use, SIMS Agora provides a flexible way for parents and guardians to make payments and purchase items. It also supports schools with their drive to improve efficiency, reduce costs and streamline payment collection administration.

Easy, safe and convenient for parents Parents are able to manage their school payments with the peace of mind that all transactions are processed safely directly to the school using the highest level of security. Parents can also merge their children’s accounts into one single view, even from different schools that also use SIMS Agora for online payments.

SIMS Dinner Money integrationSIMS Agora integrates seamlessly with SIMS Dinner Money for school meal payments, balances and meal options. Parents can view their school meal balance, manage payments and top-ups with greater ease.

SIMS Dinner Money is automatically updated and the information can be viewed on screen and in reports.

Why SIMS Agora?

SimpleSIMS Agora makes the often complex payment collection process simple – helping to reduce the administration work for schools and making payments for school items easier and quicker for parents and guardians.

IntegratedSIMS Agora provides a fully integrated payment collection solution for schools – automatically integrated to SIMS and SIMS Dinner Money data where used – ensuring all information is accurate and consistent.

Safety. Security. ResilienceSIMS Agora is a highly secure solution, fully managed Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) Level certified service, which incorporates the highest levels of card security and fraud protection measures.

Capability and experienceSIMS Agora combines the Capita SIMS experience of developing solutions specifically for the education sector over the last 25 years, along with Capita’s leading payment collection services experience - processing over 2 million payment transactions per month.

ag·o·ra

noun \’a-gə-rə\n. pl. ag·o·ræ or ag·o·ras

From Latin and ancient Greek ἀγείρω The chief marketplace or market area

SIMS Agora provides a cost-efficient, secure and easy way for schools to collect payments from parents and sell school items online such as school meals, trips, uniforms and much more.

Benefits for schools• Reduces administrative time and

cost spent on payment collection and banking procedures

• Improves safety - Reduces the amount of money held at school

• Ensures children are safer without having to carry cash to school

• Keeps accurate records of payments for every item for each pupil

• Seamless, automatic integration with SIMS Dinner Money for smooth and accurate transactions

Benefits for parents• Easy to make payments for school

items online by debit or credit card for greater convenience

• Reduces the need for children or parents to carry cash to school

• Peace of mind that payments are made safely and securely to the school

• Payment for larger items such as school trips can be made by instalments up to the due date

SIMS Agora is the trusted online payments solution for the whole school community

Safe, secure, integrated – payments made simple

Parents can see their children in one single view, even if they attend different schools.

24/7 access for parents to check purchase history, statements and school meals taken.

Automatic synchronisation with SIMS Dinner Money displays the child’s current meal balance and the easy payment facility allows parents to top-up quickly – schools can even set the minimum payment amount.

Schools can post messages about new events, trips or items for the relevant group, year or class.

At-a-glance view of the child’s school meal purchase history.

Items are categorised into an easy-to-use menu – only showing when available and assigned for a specific year, group or class.

Collect payments for a wide range of school items and activities, including trips, clubs, events, exams, transport and uniform – payments can even be made by instalment.

Adding or editing items is quick and simple through just one screen.

Real-time reporting – search by any combination of group, date, category or payment.

Capita SIMS, Franklin Court, Priory Business Park, Cardington, Bedford MK44 3JZTel: 01234 838080 | Fax: 01234 832036 | Email: info@capita-sims.co.uk | www.capita-sims.co.uk

Registered office: 71 Victoria Street, Westminster, London SW1H 0XA | Registered in England No. 2299747. Part of Capita plc.

Your questions answered

Key features at a glance

Are payments secure?Yes. SIMS Agora is safe and secure and tested for the highest security. Payments are secure - no card details are ever stored and parents can only access their children’s accounts when activated by the school and with a unique security code.

Is SIMS Agora fully integrated with SIMS or do I need to export the pupils’ data?SIMS Agora is fully integrated with SIMS - keeping all information together securely in one place. There is no need for the school to export the pupil data or use any Third Party systems or separate add-ons.

Does SIMS Agora integrate with SIMS Dinner Money?Yes. Balances and payments are automatically synchronised and updated in SIMS Dinner Money showing on-screen and in reports. Even if a cash or cheque payment is made directly, the correct balance will show in Agora against each child.

What type of items can the school sell? The school can choose to sell/collect money for any school activity or items such as uniforms, stationery, trips, activities, clubs or exams.

Can items be made available for selected groups?Yes. SIMS Agora reflects the exact groups as setup by the school in SIMS. The school administrator simply selects the group or combination of groups for each item as needed.

Can a school have multiple bank accounts linked to SIMS Agora and money paid into the separate accounts?Yes. Multiple bank accounts can be added by the school administrator for no extra cost and associated with different items as required. Payments are automatically allocated to the nominated bank account for the specific items.

Feature Available

Secure, easy-to-use web-based online payment system - fully accredited and certified as PCI Level 1 security compliant and uses the highest levels of security

Ability to pay online with major debit and credit cards

Ability to pay online for school meals and see up-to-date meal history and school meal balance for each child

Ability to buy school uniform and other school items and pay for school meals, school trips, clubs, activities, events, concerts, subscriptions, donations – even by instalment

Ability for parents to merge their children’s payment accounts into one combined single-view - whether at the same school or at different schools

View payment history and school meal balances at any time

Simple setup and configuration completed for the school by Capita SIMS

Automatic integration and synchronisation with SIMS

Automatic integration and synchronisation with SIMS Dinner Money – updating balances, payments and meal options

Ability to easily make items available to buy by specific pupil, group or school year, as defined in SIMS

Integrated online shop to sell school items, trips, activities, events, clubs, concerts, with the ability to include school-defined product options

Ability to set automatic availability for payment items (e.g. start and end date)

Administrator reports and dashboard

Ability to have multiple bank accounts associated with different items

Activation codes automatically generated for parents/guardians by SIMS defined groups

For parents

For schools

Find out more call 0845 460 4079 email info@capita-sims.co.uk www.capita-sims.co.uk/onlinepayments

Capita SIMS, Franklin Court, Priory Business Park, Cardington, Bedford MK44 3JZTel: 01234 838080 | Fax: 01234 832036 | Email: info@capita-sims.co.uk | www.capita-sims.co.uk

Registered office: 71 Victoria Street, Westminster, London SW1H 0XA | Registered in England No. 2299747. Part of Capita plc.

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