Why Payment Flexibility is King for Utilities

By Casey Collins, Senior Research Analyst

From Chartwell’s annual residential consumer research, we recognize that customers highly value flexibility in bill payment options – whether that comes in the form of more flexible billing programs, like ‘Choose a due date,’ or from their utility offering preferred payment methods.

Utilities also have a variety of strategies for optimizing their payment method offering, balancing the utility’s cost of payment acceptance with customer preferences and satisfaction.

Fee-free card or mobile wallet payments work for some utilities and are certainly favored by consumers, but are not always a one-size-fits-all solution especially if costs are not distributed equitably among customers using that form of payment – an idea that Consumers Energy highlighted in their Gold Award-winning program recognized in the Billing and Payment category of the 2024 Chartwell Best Practices Awards.

 

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