PayIt lands ‘the Lou’ as a client for mobile payments

Government tech startup PayIt is working with the second-largest city in Missouri.

The Kansas City-based company is now providing its mobile payment technology to the City of St. Louis, allowing its more than 300,000 residents to more easily pay property taxes via an app. Timing was apt for the partnership, as St. Louis’ property taxes began arriving in the mail about one week ago.

A city official said St. Louis tapped PayIt to offer residents more options to pay taxes.

“Taxes are never easy to pay,” St. Louis collector of revenue Gregory Daly said, according to St. Louis’ Fox 2. “We’re trying to make it as easy as possible.”

The PayIt app is free, however, there’s a fee to make payments.

PayIt burst onto the Kansas City startup scene in early January 2016 after it registered a $4.5 million capital raise. Led by CEO John Thomson, the company now has more than 20 employees that work to revolutionize how citizens financially interact with government agencies.

The company has grown from easing the initial pain-point of working with start departments of motor vehicles to streamlining services for other government agencies, including those that manage permitting, taxes, licenses, citations and more.

Left to right: PayIt co-founders Mike Plunkett, John Thomson and Ryan Townsend

The PayIt service offers city, county, state and federal government agencies a personalized platform on which citizens can create a profile to simplify payments and interaction. The platform, for example, can notify a user when a vehicle’s tag must be renewed and then allows payment via phone or computer, increasing engagement and cutting down on physical wait time. The platform also provides analytics information to government agencies on how citizens tap the platform.  

Unlike many software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies, PayIt provides its platform to government agencies for free upfront. The company takes a small cut of the agency’s transaction fees, reducing its annual costs.

In July, PayIt won a national pitch competition as part of the annual United States Conference of Mayors, beating out dozens of other firms around the nation.