ELECTRONIC LOCKBOX SERVICES
The Department of Administration provides a broad set of services so that agencies can receive payments and remittance data electronically.  These services are called Electronic Lockbox Services, and include:

• Initial consultation to determine the most cost-effective and convenient combination of electronic lockbox services;
• Assistance in setting up all aspects of an electronic lockbox application including the e-payment web pages hosted by the State's e-payment gateway services provider, U.S. Bank (note: set-up of the agency's storefront web application is not provided).
• Assistance in troubleshooting technical problems experienced in testing and in production.  Continual monitoring of production e-payment transaction flow for fast identification and resolution of any problems. 
• Automatic recording of daily cash receipts into WiSMART.
• Full reconciliation support.
• Automatic transfer of daily remittance data files to DET's FTP Server.

ELECTRONIC PAYMENTS
An integral part of all electronic lockbox applications is the online acceptance of electronic payments (credit/debit card and e-check payments).  The State of Wisconsin's online payment transactions are processed through an e-payment gateway service provided under the Enterprise Banking Services Contract.

More than 100 e-payment applications have now been implemented under the State's contract, and over 8 million online payments have been accepted.  During FY 2013, more than 1.5 million Wisconsin residents utilized this e-payment gateway to pay state agencies.  And, at least 60 local governments utilize the State's Enterprise Banking Services Contract for their online payment applications, including the cities of of Madison, Milwaukee, and Eau Claire, and 54 Wisconsin counties.

GETTING STARTED
The process of implementing a web application with an ePayment solution is defined in four steps - orientation, initiation, planning and implementation.

Step 1 - Orientation
You should review the technical and financial documentation to develop an understanding of the e-payment process.  You can also see an online demonstration of the e-payment gateway system using the eLearning tutorial at: https://elearning.epymtservice.com/ (the username is "usbank" and the password is "epayment" - both are case-sensative). 

Step 2 - Initiate an Electronic Lockbox Application Request
Once you have decided that you would like to move forward to develop an Electronic Lockbox application, you should complete an application request form.  The State Controller's Office will review your application request, and get back to you within 5 business days to discuss your application.  A meeting may also be scheduled to discuss your application.

Step 3 - Planning
Developing a team to include a financial lead, technical lead, program/business expert and project lead will ensure success.  The State Controller's Office will prepare a project timeline for establishing your application.

Step 4 - Implementation
Once the Controller's Office receives the completed set-up forms from the agency, it will take 11-14 business days to ready the new application for testing.  Establishing the FTP transmission of the daily remittance file can take an additional 5 business days.  Once the appliation is ready for testing the agency can perform integration testing with its web application.  For simple applications, agency testing can be completed in a few days.  For more complicated applications, it can take several weeks to fully test.  4 business days prior to launching the application into production, the application is "frozen" and no testing or additional changes can occcur.