If you have ever zipped through an open road, you know the magic of a modern tollway. What you do not see is the back office scramble when a trip goes unpaid. Thousands of plates captured. Invoices to send. Reminders to nudge. Payments to match. Collections to manage. This is where Usio shows up, pairing a print-and-mail operation with Scan2Pay technology and simple rails for card, ACH, or even a good old fashioned check. The result is faster collections, fewer headaches, and a better experience for drivers.
What you will learn in the next few minutes
- How government and toll agencies are modernizing collections with omnichannel billing that still respects check-by-mail preferences.
- Why Scan2Pay can lift response rates by removing friction at the exact moment a driver opens the envelope.
- The surprising impact of eliminating unnecessary steps in the payment journey.
- The data picture behind bill payment behavior, QR code adoption, and toll violation realities, so you can benchmark your operation.
A very real collections problem that needs a practical fix
Across the U.S., toll operations rely on a blend of transponders and license plate billing. When plates are billed by mail, a material share of recipients do not respond to the first notice. Some of those invoices become violations with fees. The problem is documented in state audits and financial reports, which show that unpaid toll balances can snowball because fees quickly outpace the original toll amount. One recent example from New Jersey found 2,748 accounts with unpaid balances of about 31.3 million dollars during a single year. Only 1.9 million dollars were original tolls. The rest, 29.4 million dollars, were fees.
This is not just a New Jersey story. Toll agencies across states track evasion recovery revenue and invoice performance as a standard part of their financials. The Illinois Tollway, for instance, explicitly reports invoiced unpaid tolls within evasion recovery revenue, a reminder that organized billing and collections are core to keeping roads funded.
Where Usio fits: print, mail, Scan2Pay, and every way to pay
Usio is built to handle the unglamorous but essential part of the work. An agency exports a daily file. Usio generates compliant, driver-friendly statements. Those statements are printed and mailed through Usio in-house print and mail facility. Each statement includes a Scan2Pay code that opens a secure payment page in a single tap. Recipients can pay by card, by ACH, or they can mail a check back using the included remittance slip. It is all in one envelope and one experience.
The reason this matters is simple. When people receive a bill, they want the easiest possible way to settle it. Scan2Pay meets them at the point of attention. They open the envelope. They scan. They pay. No hunting for an account portal or typing a long URL on a phone.
This is friction removed. And in collections, every unnecessary step you remove directly improves your response rate.
Research backs it up. Peer-reviewed studies highlight perceived usefulness, ease of use, and convenience as primary drivers of QR adoption, which together explain a large share of user attitudes toward scanning and paying. When the tool is right in front of them and the process feels fast and trustworthy, people complete the transaction on the spot.
From multiple steps to one
Traditionally, toll agencies have relied on processes that send a bill by mail with instructions to log into a portal, enter a license plate, find the invoice, then select a payment option. That is at least five steps before a payment can be made. If any of those steps are confusing, the bill sits on the counter.
With Usio, that journey compresses to two steps: open the bill, scan the code. The code already knows the invoice number and the amount due. The payment form is ready. The fewer steps required, the less time there is for distractions or second thoughts.
Putting it together: a day in the life of a toll invoice
- Data in. The agency sends a file of plates with unpaid crossings.
- Statement generation. Usio merges data with compliant templates, applies fee structures, and prepares both digital and paper artifacts.
- Mail goes out. Usio print and mail house produces letters with return envelopes and a remittance slip for checks. Each letter includes a Scan2Pay code that lands on a branded page.
- Pay instantly. Drivers scan and pay in under a minute, without needing to search for a website or remember login credentials.
- Cash application. Payments reconcile back to the agency with reference numbers and plate IDs for clean account resolution.
- Reminder cadence. If day one does not convert, a text or email can follow, along with a second notice mailing if policy allows.
Every stage is engineered to avoid friction. The notice is easy to read. The code is visible. The landing page is mobile-optimized. The payment options cover everyone.
The data case for frictionless toll collections
The Federal Reserve’s research on bill payment shows that consumers use a mix of methods, and that convenience is a critical driver of on-time payment. When paying a bill feels effortless, people do it sooner. When there are barriers, they delay — or do not pay at all.
QR technology is a perfect bridge between a physical letter and a digital transaction. Studies have shown that intention to adopt QR payment is strongly influenced by perceived ease of use and the elimination of tedious input steps. This is exactly the design principle behind Usio’s Scan2Pay.
What agencies tell us they want
- Lower total cost to collect by encouraging immediate payment without staff intervention.
- Less IT lift since Usio handles templates, data mapping, and file processing.
- Better resident experience with notices that are clear, actionable, and flexible on payment choice.
- Audit-ready reporting with precise tracking of when bills were sent and when payments were made.
A short story from the field
One toll agency wanted to lift first-notice payment rates without overhauling their website. They adopted Usio mail with Scan2Pay. Notices went out with a bold, scannable code above the fold, a clear total due, and three options to pay. Within the first billing cycle, the team reported fewer calls asking how to pay, faster payment turnaround, and more accounts resolved before the violation stage. Nothing about their violation policy changed. What changed was the path to yes.
How to get started
- Send a sample data file. Let Usio generate a mock statement set with your branding and fee policy.
- Pick your cadence. Establish first notice timing, digital reminders, and second notice rules that match your regulations.
- Place the Scan2Pay code where it counts. Make it visible and easy to scan.
- Measure right away. Track time to first payment, channel share, and call volume. Use that data to fine-tune the message and design.
The bottom line
Unpaid tolls do not fix themselves. Agencies need a collections flow that is fast, clear, and free from unnecessary steps. Usio print and mail house, backed by Scan2Pay, gives drivers a one-touch way to pay by card, ACH, or check. The research says people respond to simple choices. The results show that removing friction gets bills paid and keeps the roads running.
Sources
- Federal Reserve Financial Services. “2025 Findings from the Diary of Consumer Payment Choice.” April 2025.
- Atlanta Fed Center for Payments. “Consumer Payment Choice for Bill Payments.” October 2020.
- Journal articles on QR payment adoption:
- Humanities and Social Sciences Communications. “Examining consumer behavior towards adoption of quick response mobile payment.” 2024.
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. “The Adoption of QR Code Mobile Payment Technology During COVID-19.” 2022.
- Illinois Tollway. “2023 Q4 Budget Analysis.” Section noting evasion recovery revenue includes invoiced unpaid tolls.
- State of New Jersey Office of the State Auditor. “South Jersey Transportation Authority Toll Violations.” 2024. Findings on unpaid toll balances and fees.
