Getting a charity's taxi costs paid back, without the paperwork
A charity books taxis for people and pays the fares. We turned the taxi firm's spreadsheet into text messages and online payments, so people pay back in a few taps.
The client
A community charity that books taxis for people who need them, then recovers the cost from each passenger.
The challenge
Every month the taxi firm sent a spreadsheet of journeys. Staff then had to work out who owed what, tell each person, and chase and record payments by hand.
What we built
- Staff upload the taxi firm's spreadsheet, and the system matches each journey to the right person
- Everyone who owes money gets a text with their balance and a secure link
- People sign in with a reference and PIN, see their journeys and pay by card, in full or in part, with the option to add a donation
- Staff record other payments, send reminders and see who still owes what
The result
In use since 2021 and still being developed.
Technical details
ASP.NET MVC with Entity Framework and SQL Server. Spreadsheet import with validation, many-to-many allocation of payments to journeys, Stripe Checkout sessions and a bulk SMS gateway.
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