Croatian town covers banking fees for utilities in digitalization bid

The town of Makarska has recently launched a new mobile service, aiming to cut down on paper use and stimulate citizens to go contactless

The Town of Makarska, Croatia reported earlier this month on the launch of its newest digitalization service offered through the mobile application Keks Pay. As its name suggests, it is a payment instrument, in which citizens can pay their bills for utilities, water management, and taxes on holiday homes by using their mobile phones.

As of recently, using it has practically become free, after authorities announced that they will cover the internet banking fees. Thus, not only is the process getting easier, but it will also be at no costs to citizens.

Digitalization is gaining roots in Makarska

The Adriatic town of Makarska (14 thousand people), takes pride in offering increasing number of digital services, making the work of city officials and the fulfilment of citizen duties easier. They have reportedly made it a priority to make their services more available, starting with the introduction of internet banking, then launching the Keks Pay application and lately – by enabling citizens to pay the bills issued to them by the town administration, free of charge.

Makarska's Mayor Zoran Paunovic has pledged further digitalization, making the city budget more transparent, by opening its accounts to every citizen.

But for the time being, all citizens, regardless of which bank they have an account with, can install Keks Pay from Google Play or Apple App stores, open a service account within it and ask the authorities to authorize the account via the app. When they receive an invoice through the app the following month, they will be able to pay it in one go at no charge, with their debit or credit card.

The application ensures easiness of use – with a few clicks, one will open the process of online payments and terminate the reception of paper invoices, thereby cutting down on paper use and transport. Moreover, the app is also an archive, storing all paid bills in one place, with respective PDF versions.