Catholic Development Fund (CDF), in partnership with Flexischools, is pleased to announce an exciting new feature for CDFpay, designed to simplify school fee management for Catholic schools and families.
From 2026, CDFpay will enable parents and guardians to view, manage, and pay school and tuition fees directly within the same app they use for everyday school payments. This enhancement will bring greater convenience, flexibility, and transparency in fee payments while streamlining the process for schools and parents.
With an initial pilot to take place in Melbourne this year, the new fee feature adds to the already comprehensive CDFpay app which is currently facilitating cash-free payments across 140+ schools Australia-wide; for school tuck-shops, canteen, uniform, fundraising, camps, and special event purchases.
A Smarter Way to Pay
The new fee functionality will allow parents and guardians to:
- View school and tuition fees in one place
- Easily set up and manage payment plans
- Make one-off payments as needed
- Adjust existing payment arrangements with ease
- Receive reminder notifications to complete a payment
For schools, CDFpay will integrate seamlessly with school management systems, automatically presenting fees to parents, issuing reminders, and reflecting payments made in real time. Smart notifications will further assist parents and guardians, helping them stay up-to-date on any expected actions. Schools will gain access to more intuitive dashboards, providing valuable insights into payment plan performance.
Expanding Payment Options
When launched, the CDFpay fee management feature will support payments via Visa, Mastercard, EFTPOS, and direct bank transfers. Additional payment options, including PayTo and other emerging consumer payment technologies, are expected to be introduced as they become available.
Transforming School Payments
“The CDFpay promise is about delivering a more efficient, connected, and user-friendly payment solution for Catholic schools and families,” says Matthew Cassin, CEO, CDF. “By integrating school fee payments into our current service offering, we’re making fee management easier and more transparent while ensuring schools have a reliable and streamlined collection process. It’s been a real collaborative effort across the CDF team, Flexischools and Education Offices.”
Rachel Debeck, CEO of Flexischools, also stated: "CDFpay was built with the core purpose of making life simpler for parents and schools. The ability to manage fees in just a few clicks is a great new addition to this all-in-one school payment app".
The new functionality has been developed in close collaboration with the Catholic education community to make sure it meets their specific needs. “As the largest Catholic education organisation in Australia, MACS is excited to test the new features later this year,” says James Young, GM Finance Transformation, Melbourne Archdiocesan Catholic Schools (MACS). “Fee collection is something that takes a considerable amount of administration time in the school environment. We see great potential with CDFpay and providing our parents with easy and accessible options to make payments.”
This exciting enhancement reinforces CDF’s commitment to supporting Catholic organisations with innovative, future-focused financial solutions.
For more information about CDFpay visit the CDFpay webpage or contact your CDF Relationship Manager today.
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CDPF Limited, a company established by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, has indemnified the Catholic Development Fund ABN 15 274 943 760 (the Fund) against any liability arising out of a claim by investors in the Fund. In practice, this means your investment is backed by the assets of the Catholic Archdiocese of Melbourne. The Fund is required by law to make the following disclosure. Investment in the Fund is only intended to attract investors whose primary purpose for making their investment is to support the charitable purposes of the Fund. Investors’ funds will be used to generate a return to the Fund that will be applied to further the charitable works of the Archdiocese of Melbourne and the Dioceses of Sale and Bunbury. The Fund is not prudentially supervised by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority nor has it been examined or approved by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). An investor in the Fund will not receive the benefit of the financial claims scheme or the depositor protection provisions in the Banking Act 1959 (Cth). The investments that the Fund offers are not subject to the usual protections for investors under the Corporations Act (Cth) or regulation by ASIC. Investors may be unable to get some or all of their money back when the investor expects or at all and investments in the Fund are not comparable to investments with banks, finance companies or fund managers. The Fund’s identification statement may be viewed here or by contacting the Fund. The Fund does not hold an Australian Financial Services Licence.
