Utility payment systems manage recurring payments for services like electricity, gas and water. They must be easy to use and provide the right features for each customer type, including mobile payment options. They also need to be able to support complex rates such as metered or non-metered flat rates and tier blocks for different areas of the day. Other advanced functionality includes eStatements, bill reminders and a robust e-invoicing service.
Automating these recurring payments makes sense. After all, a lot of people have to pay utility bills on a regular basis. Whether it is for heating and cooling costs or for other recurring charges, these payments are often the same each month. Providing multiple ways for customers to make these payments can help increase your conversion rate for these types of transactions.
One option is to enable customers to set up equal payment plans for their utility bills. This enables those on fixed incomes to spread the cost of their utility bill across an entire year, helping them avoid high winter heating and summer cooling bills.
Another way to improve your utility payment system is to enable real-time information flows between the systems that manage a customer’s accounts. This includes the utility billing system, their client portal, banks, debt collection systems and mobile providers.
This allows the system to share information about a customer’s account so that it can take proactive action to keep a customer up-to-date and informed of their balances. For example, if a customer receives a Request to Pay from their wallet provider, the system can send them an e-invoice with a link to their corresponding e-billing statement so they can review and approve the payment. utility payment system