Open Banking is changing the way the utility company handles debt collection. And if energy companies want to stay on the right side of the regulator and truly do their best by their customers, they’re going to want to adopt Open Banking. By allowing for real-time payment, Open Banking can help streamline the debt collection process and improve the overall customer experience and the experience for the utility company.
In this blog we’ll cover:
Energy companies have traditionally relied on a variety of methods to collect overdue bills from customers. These methods typically involve sending letters or making phone calls to the customer requesting payment. If the customer fails to pay, the utility company may take legal action or cut off their service.
However, these methods often lead to frustration for both the utility company and the customer. The traditional debt collection process can be time-consuming and costly for energy companies, requiring dedicated staff and resources to manage the process. For customers, the process can be intimidating and stressful, potentially damaging the customer experience. And none of this results many payments, whether it is secure payment, real-time payment or otherwise.
Moreover, traditional debt collection methods often rely on paper-based billing systems and payment solutions, which can lead to errors and delays in processing payments. This can exacerbate the problem for both the utility company and the customer, as late fees and interest charges accumulate.
The need for better payment solutions is clear. Energy companies must find a more efficient and effective way to manage debt collection that minimises costs, improves payment processing, and enhances the customer experience.
This is where Open Banking comes in. Open Banking payment solutions offer secure instant payments and real-time payment processing, providing a more streamlined and secure way to manage debt collection for energy companies. With Open Banking, the utility company can provide customers with a better payments experience, reducing the likelihood of overdue bills and improving customer experience.
Open Banking offers a range of benefits for debt collection for energy companies:
Open Banking can transform the way energy companies handle debt collection, with significant impacts on both the utility company and its customers. As well as the points mentioned above, some of the key impacts of Open Banking for energy companies are:
In short, Open Banking can also help energy companies to build stronger relationships with their customers by providing a more personalised and responsive service. By leveraging the benefits of Open Banking real-time payment, energy companies can gain a deeper understanding of their customers’ needs and preferences, and tailor their services accordingly.
With Open Banking payments set to have a significant impact on the utility company and energy companies in particular and, with real-time payment leading to improved cash flow, reduced costs, enhanced the customer experience, increased security, and improved regulatory compliance, there’s an urgency needed on the part of energy companies to adopt and implement this secure payment open banking technology, especially in a cost of living crisis. As more and more energy companies adopt Open Banking payment solutions, they will be better placed to meet the evolving needs of their customers and stay on the good side of regulators and their customer experience feedback, and those that do, will be the ones keeping ahead of the competition.
For energy companies in particular, or you’re the utility company generally wanting to have an impact, and you want to know more about how Ordo could help you with quickly and easily implementing open banking payment solutions that will boost your business, get in touch today to find out how we can get your debt collection in by way of secure instant payments, all the while lowering your costs and improving customer experience.
