Content For Your Website
Suggested web content and examples from other areas.
Virtual Wallet is our preferred way of managing direct payments locally.
Virtual Wallet is a nationwide solution that has been developed specifically for managing direct payments. It brings together individuals, their personalised care funding and care providers in a secure online environment.
Designed around the individual, Virtual Wallet simplifies the process of managing all types of personal care funding and puts the individual in full control of the care and support they receive. And the Virtual Wallet support team are on-hand to help you if you need.
Note that Virtual Wallet is gradually replacing the previous arrangements that we had in place (managed accounts, pre-paid cards).
The benefits of Virtual Wallet are:
- Choice & control – a direct payment gives you choice & control, Virtual Wallet is just a way of making your direct payment easier to manage.
- Free – there is no cost to Virtual Wallet for individuals (or PAs or providers).
- Ease-of-use – Virtual Wallet has been designed specifically for direct payments, and is used by thousands of people just like you.
- Family & friends – an authorised representative can access and manage your Virtual Wallet account for you.
- Less admin – Virtual Wallet is much less hassle compared to the traditional ways of having a direct payment.
- Support team – The Virtual Wallet support team is on-hand to help you every step of the way.
The Virtual Wallet website has lots of information, or take a look at the one-minute video which explains more.
Consider including the Virtual Wallet hero image and/or logos on your website. These can be downloaded from the ‘Hero Images’ section of the Comms Hub.
East Riding give the individual three choices for managing their direct payment:
Within the Virtual Wallet option, this is the information provided:
As well as ‘selling’ the benefits of Virtual Wallet, they also call out the reduced audit implications and the support team (which differentiate Virtual Wallet to the other options).
Virtual Wallet in Devon is currently aimed at disabled children’s services.
The pages on their website are very user-friendly and jargon-free:
- They are clear that they are moving away from pre-paid cards, but the tone is reassuring.
- They have a neat YouTube video for people to watch.
- They list the benefits and dates of information sessions.
- They link to two PDFs built from information within the Comms Hub that contain the key points.
Southampton’s direct payments page strongly positions Virtual Wallet throughout.
It says: “To make receiving your Direct Payment as easy as possible we will set up an account for you with Virtual Wallet. This is managed by a provider called People Place Lives (PPL) and it's an online account that your Direct Payment is paid into”.
It also includes:
- More narrative about Virtual Wallet and how it works.
- The five-step process for getting a direct payment, with Virtual Wallet referenced throughout.
- FAQs specifically about Virtual Wallet.
Croydon’s direct payments page strongly positions Virtual Wallet as the preferred choice. It says:
