![]() Many utility companies including Georgia Power also allow customers to prepay for electricity service using an option similar to pay-as-you-go cellphone plans. "We're constantly looking at ways the customer can self-serve and make payment transactions faster and easier," she said. Exploring other payment methodsĪlabama Power, along with Georgia Power and Mississippi Power, are currently setting up an automated voice response system that will allow customers to speak and pay by phone, Tucker said. ![]() This year, the kiosks began accepting credit and debit cards for payment as well. "This is a way that customers can pay on their own schedule and pay with cash," Tucker said. Though all Alabama Power consumers can use the kiosks-which charge no fees-they are perhaps especially helpful for unbanked customers who had been paying their power bills with money orders left in after-hours drop boxes, Tucker said. Of kiosk payments, about 44 percent are made with cash, Tucker said. Terri Tucker, accounting services manager at the utility company, said the standalone kiosks-available at company offices and some drive-up payment machines that are accessible 24 hours a day-are handy for customers who tend to pay with cash. InComm said Alabama Power and Mississippi Power-like Georgia Power, subsidiaries of Atlanta-based Southern Company-also offer the pay-at-retail service.Īlabama Power introduced self-service payment kiosks in 2017 to give consumers a faster, easier way to make payments. Georgia Power customers can pay their bills at national dollar stores, convenience stores, and pharmacies, so consumers can make payments when the power company's offices are closed. "More and more retailers are accepting it," he said. Robert Skiba, executive vice president with InComm, said that offering opportunities to pay utility bills at popular retail locations can particularly benefit unbanked people or those who have limited mobility and rely on public transportation. The Georgia Power payment option was facilitated by a partnership between PayGo Utilities, a metro Atlanta-based software provider, and InComm, an Atlanta financial technology firm that creates the barcode utility that customers can scan at a store checkout counter to make their payments. Customers can make full or partial payments on their utility bills at the same time they buy milk and other products, and the payment is credited to their account within minutes. The company found that nearly 70 percent of customers had shifted from using traditional business offices and mail to electronic payments and authorized payment locations. Two years ago, Atlanta-based Georgia Power began offering a service that would allow its customers to pay their bills in cash at some popular retail locations by scanning a barcode at the checkout counter. "Payments themselves aren’t going to change someone’s economic resilience," Washington said, "but payment innovations matched with thoughtful partnerships will give consumers more options instead of one size fits all." Buy some milk, pay some bills Jessica Washington, a payments risk expert with the Retail Payments Risk Forum at the Atlanta Fed, expects more products catering to low- and moderate-income consumers to be available in the future. payment card transactions flow through the area, has become known as "Transaction Alley." Metro Atlanta, which sees more than 70 percent of U.S. Gone are the days when electricity and natural gas bills could only be paid by mail or required waiting in long lines at a payment office.Īcross the Atlanta Fed's district, which includes Alabama, Georgia, and Florida and parts of Mississippi, Louisiana, and Tennessee, utility companies are partnering with payment providers to simplify payment for customers, especially those who mainly pay with cash or are unbanked or underbanked. Utility bill-payment services are gaining a firmer foothold, made possible by technologies that connect power companies and payment processors with different points of sale. Nowhere is that potential becoming more evident than the utilities sector. Southeastern Rental Affordability Trackerįor consumers who manage their affairs outside of the traditional banking system, technological innovations have the potential to help pay bills for basic and critical services more conveniently and efficiently.Community Development at the Federal Reserve.Survey and Diary of Consumer Payment Choice.Center for Workforce and Economic Opportunity. ![]() ![]() ![]()
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