Drive Efficiencies

"Aspire Cash has reduced the administration process for bursaries by 80%"

- Lena Smith, Funding Officer, Cardiff University

Payments can be made to beneficiaries very quickly – within minutes a beneficiary receives cash into their bank account. There is no need to collect bank details or wait for payment runs, which increases the speed significantly. This is particularly transformational for hardship and urgent funding and means that beneficiaries are better supported.

Using Aspire drives efficiencies for funders by:

Providing a single delivery mechanism for any/all awards
Eliminating the need to collect, update or verify bank details
Reducing GDPR compliance risk
Providing first line beneficiary customer service
Removing the need for finance teams to make direct payments or set up/check new payees
Significantly reducing payment queries from beneficiaries

Empower Beneficiaries

"The feedback has been incredibly positive, it’s not just about speed but also some unforeseen benefits"

- Simon Lee, Assistant Director Student Journey, University of Sunderland

Aspire has been designed to guarantee beneficiaries quick access to their funds 24/7, 365 days a year:

Payments are delivered in minutes
Funds can be drawn down in phases helping with budgeting
Beneficiaries can choose their preferred account, reducing the risk of funds going into an overdraft or restricted account
90% of beneficiaries say that funding delivered by Aspire helps with budgeting

Actionable Data Insights

"It really helped us in terms of our clarity of reporting and had added a lot of efficiency to how we operate."

- Andy Cook, Vice Chancellor, Ravensbourne University

Aspire gives unrivalled data insights and reporting.

Each time a beneficiary makes a cash withdrawal or spends their credit funds, a reason for the funds is selected or resources purchased are categorises. This builds up a rich picture of beneficiary need, providing valuable data for regulatory and other reporting, and enabling improved tailoring of future support. Additionally, reporting provided gives insight into:

When and how financial support is used and for what purpose
How different type of support are used in different ways
The changing needs of beneficiaries over time
Emerging trends in the use of financial support and beneficiaries needs
Sector benchmarking over how and when financial support is used

Reduce Costs

"This has significantly improved student experience and also delivered a cost saving to the University"

- Aston University, 22/23 Financial Statement

As well as the efficiencies in reduced administration costs, Aspire reduces the overall expenditure, (when compared to paying via alternative systems) on financial support for two reasons:

Funding is allocated for beneficiaries to draw when needed, rather than making a single payment into their bank account. Should the student withdraw from studies or beneficiary circumstances change, their account can be frozen and no further funds are drawn.
Not all funds are drawn by beneficiaries and there is always a small percentage of ‘orphan funds’ at the end of a cycle.

These funds can be repurposed into hardship or other areas thereby alleviating other financial costs. Across all funders using Aspire in 23/24 between 4-12% of funds allocated were reported as savings.

Example of fund drawing pattern for a typical Aspire Cash Scheme:

*Based on average Aspire Cash use 23/24 academic year.

For Funders

There are 4 core benefits to adopting Aspire.

Drive Efficiencies

"Aspire Cash has reduced the administration process for bursaries by 80%"

Empower Beneficiaries

"The feedback has been incredibly positive, it’s not just about speed but also some unforeseen benefits"

Actionable Data Insights

"It really helped us in terms of our clarity of reporting and had added a lot of efficiency to how we operate."

For full details of the reporting available please see our

and contact us for a demo of our Aspire services and reporting capabilities.

Reduce Costs

"This has significantly improved student experience and also delivered a cost saving to the University"

Contact us to find out how easy it is to transform the way you make payments with Aspire:

The JS Group

Aspire Services

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