ATLANTA – The menu of bill payment options continues to expand with North America’s electric and natural gas utilities as these energy providers seek out more cost-effective ways to serve customers and at the same time provide the services necessary to meet customer demand. Chartwell’s latest report, Cost-Effective Bill Payment Solutions, shows that more than half of utilities now have Internet-based billing, while checking account debit has become a nearly universal offering,
Cost-Effective Bill Payment Solutions analyzes bill payment and presentment data collected earlier this year in an exclusive Chartwell survey of 100 utility companies for this latest industry issue report and is a follow-up to Chartwell’s utility industry bill payment and presentment guide, published in March.
The mail-in check is still the customer’s number-one preference for bill payment, but Chartwell finds that various electronic forms of payment are growing in popularity. There is also a segment of customers that prefers to pay in person, and utilities continue to find ways to address this demographic, such as partnering with various retailers, that can be beneficial to the customer and the utility.
An analysis of the industry shows where utilities of various types are at with their bill-payment service offerings as well as where the industry is headed. Cost-Effective Bill Payment Solutions also includes four case studies, including a report on New Hampshire-based Unitil and its relationship with Western Union that has allowed the utility to give its customers a variety of locations to pay their bill. Unitil customers’ bills are scanned at Western Union outlets with a bar code technology that automates the remittance process for the utility. Another case study on Cobb Electric Membership Corp., a large electric cooperative in suburban Atlanta, shows how the utility addressed its acceptance of credit card payment and online billing through a third-party vendor.
Cost-Effective Bill Payment Solutions is part of the Chartwell Customer Care Research Series and is available to non-members for $250. For more information on the report or how to subscribe to the series call (800) 432-5879, or (404) 237-9099.
Press contact: Dennis Smith (404) 237-9099.
