The system used swipe cards and readers produced by the Giro bank and installed in local council offices. The council tenant would then use the card at either the housing office or the post office. The transaction would then be picked up by software dialling in to the Giro bank system on a regular basis and downloading transaction files. The resulting files were then picked up by the finance systems of the council, processed and imported into the system.
The benefits to the council were provided by freeing up a large amount of time spent in housing offices dealing with cash payments, thus allowing council workers to concentrate on giving a better service to their customers.