Dick Gufstason founded Dickson Insurance in Mesa, Arizona in 1995. Today it is run by Dick’s sons Simon and Jake, who took the reins in 2010. Jake started with the agency in 1998, specializing in trucking insurance. He then branched out, now also selling personal lines and managing the agency’s accounting functions.
Jake says Dickson has had the ability to handle credit card and ACH payments for 10 years. The problem was, they had to be manually entered. The agency also took a lot of fax checks. Jake wanted a system to relieve the manual entry burden. He also didn’t want to worry about the high fees his credit card processor charged him.
How Dickson Chose ePayPolicy
Dickson Insurance is big on industry referrals. Their website lists recommended professionals ranging from real estate agents and title companies to janitorial and auto glass repair services. In this case, it was IIABAZ that connected Jake with ePayPolicy.
Jake saw ePayPolicy listed on the IIABAZ site as a recommended product. He says, “They called me. We went through a demo. I made the decision based on that interaction. Within a day it was up and running. It made total sense.”
The timing of that call was perfect. Dickson installed ePayPolicy in 2019. “It turned out to be great for us during COVID,” he mentions.
He also shares that Dickson’s business has doubled “three or four times” since 2012. Their business mix is 80 percent trucking/business insurance and 20 percent personal lines. Most of the growth comes from trucking. Jake is happy to have a secure payment system in place “with that kind of money flowing through the agency.”
Customer Response to Digital Payment
They did not promote credit card or ACH payment much prior to ePayPolicy because those payments were almost as time-intensive to process as checks (and expensive).
He says, “I still have to promote it to my agents. They’re stuck in their old way of doing things.” But since COVID, that’s really changing.”
He says most customers who use ePayPolicy use ACH rather than credit or debit cards. There are still the occasional few who don’t want to pay even a $3 transaction fee* but otherwise, Dickson customers love the convenience.
Benefits to the Agency
According to Jake, the top three benefits Dickson Insurance gets from ePayPolicy are:
- “It’s a time saver for me, not having to deposit money.”
- “The ease of using it; it streamlines taking money from the customer.”
- “If someone’s credit card payment isn’t approved, we know right away.”
He’s also pleased with ePayPolicy’s service. “CSR has been great. I had to switch banks and sent a message to support through the portal. We got a call back right away. No problem.”
Advice to Other Agencies
Jake is direct in his recommendation: “If you are taking a lot of payments in-house, this is a function that will ease the process for the entire agency. For your agents and your accounting staff, it eases the entire process.”
* ePayPolicy passes the transaction fee along to the payer, separating it out from the payment and depositing only what the agency is owed. This net funding process provides a simple and easy way for accounting to track and manage inbound digital payments.
