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Self-Service Payment: Take the Money

By Maggie Boys, Senior Associate, Research, E Source, November, 12, 2009 - Residential customers want to give you their money. That's the good news. The bad news is utilities are making it hard for customers to hand it over. Research conducted in 2009 by E Source shows that the payment feature on both utility web sites and interactive voice response score at the bottom of usability ratings. The difficulty in finding or making a payment through the web and interactive voice response (IVR) hinders the use of these self-service channels.  more...
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Utilities Reap Greater Cost Efficiencies and Consumer Relationships Through Fully Integrated Electronic Payment & Billing

By Robert Craig, Executive Vice President and General Manager, eCommerce Services, Online Resources Corporation, October, 08, 2009 - Smart grids, remote meter reading -- these are exciting times for new technology in the utility industry. But while some of these major core services are being rapidly reengineered there is one regular activity in need of improvement that is often overlooked: customer billing. Today, savvy utility companies are finding greater cost efficiencies by building stronger consumer relationships through an integrated electronic bill payment and presentment approach.  more...
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Prepaid Programs: The Answer to Write-Offs, Bad Debts, and Debt Collection

By Jeffrey Severs, Chief Operating Officer, Exceleron Software, Inc., September, 10, 2009 - Prepaid programs are taking the utility industry by storm. Once accused of preying on low-income households by forcing them to choose non-traditional billing methods, optional prepaid programs have rapidly grown in popularity in recent years, dispelling many of the myths surrounding their adoption.  more...
Article Viewed 1418 Times  |  4 Comments

Growing Consumer Preference for Electronic Payments Drives Benefits for the Utility Industry

By Steve Carnevale, Vice President, U.S. Commerce Development, MasterCard Worldwide, August, 13, 2009 - For utility companies, electronic payment programs -- which include card acceptance and online bill payments -- offer the ability to streamline billing operations, enhance customer satisfaction and stay competitive in a constantly evolving marketplace. While checks have traditionally been the predominant payment method for utility bills, today, more and more customers are opting to pay electronically, through online channels and using one-time and recurring card-based payments.  more...
Article Viewed 1064 Times  |  1 Comments

Developing a Customer Value Transformation Roadmap

By Jasmeet Anand, Senior Managing Consultant, IBM Global Services, July, 09, 2009 - Historically, utility customers have had limited interactions with their electric and gas utilities, except to start or stop service, report outages, and pay bills or resolve billing questions. The situation is changing as the result of factors that include rising energy prices, increasing concerns about the environment and trends toward more customer interaction and control among other service providers, such as cell phone companies.  more...
Article Viewed 1522 Times  |  3 Comments

So Much, for So Little

By J. Michael Bradley, President and Founder, CentreBack Payments, June, 11, 2009 - The continued preference for consumers to pay all things, including their utility bills, via credit cards, debit cards, or online account transfer continues. And recent regulatory changes enabling consumers to authorize recurring direct debits holds promise for a true win-win; consumers can utilize more convenient and preferred payment methods and utilities can aspire to realize the promise of reducing costs associated with billing. Indeed, the card associations haven't overlooked the opportunity in utility billing; MasterCard even offers a specific Utility Industry Program to promote acceptance of MasterCard credit and debit cards.  more...
Article Viewed 1999 Times  |  2 Comments

Advanced Meters in Texas Provide Billing Benefits

By Steve Schugart, Director of Business Operations, ePsolutions, May, 14, 2009 - With the passage of House Bill 2129, advance metering has been introduced to Texas. The state legislature stated that "in recognition that... new metering and meter information technologies, have the potential to increase the reliability of the regional electrical network, encourage dynamic pricing and demand response, make better use of transmission and generation assets, and provide more choices for consumers, the legislature encourages the adoption of these technologies by electric utilities in this state." This instruction was followed up with House Bill 3693 which expressed the intent of the legislature that net metering and "advanced meter data networks are deployed as rapidly as possible." With these guidelines Texas has begun its process of creating a smart grid intended to promote more informed consumption by the consumer and a more efficient market for the provider and utilities. While advanced meters are not a new offering in Texas (radio transmission meters have been installed previously in Texas) this process is intended to implement a truly operational smart grid for the consumer by 2014.  more...
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Using Personalized Communications to Secure Customer Loyalty in Times of Change

By Harry Stephens, President and CEO, DATAMATX, April, 08, 2009 - With our new administration there have come recommended changes and improvements in the nation's energy supplies. These changes may affect some utilities more than others, but without a doubt, new programs will have an impact on all companies in some way, and raise many questions for home energy consumers` and business customers.  more...
Article Viewed 1746 Times  |  1 Comments

Payment Channels Expanding to Meet Customer Demand, Chartwell Research Shows

By Doris Yon, Research Analyst, Chartwell, March, 11, 2009 -

Mail continues to be the predominant manner in which customers choose to pay their bills, but the steady decline in this channel over the past several years also proves that utilities offer more alternative methods in their bill presentment and payment and customers are signing up.  more...
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Pre-Paid Operations in the Texas Deregulated Market

By Steve Schugart, Director of Business Operations, ePsolutions, February, 12, 2009 - With the economy slowing down more each day and layoffs and cutbacks dominating the news each night, it is no wonder that retail electric providers (REPs) in Texas are seeing an explosive growth in the pre-paid electric business. Residential customers who are unable to meet the credit requirements of standard providers and incapable or unwilling to make security deposits are turning in mass to the prepaid provider for their electric service. But with this growth comes issues that REPs must address prior to beginning a pre-paid offering or they run the danger of suffering a very negative experience with pre-paid services.  more...
Article Viewed 2314 Times  |  2 Comments
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