I recently completed a business review for a utility that tracks several payment trends. One of these is shown in the graph below (clicking on the graph will open a larger image in a new window).
Do you track this statistic? If you don’t, keep reading to learn why I believe you should. But, before you do, it’s time for a self-serving promotion…
2025 Utility Fee Survey
Have you completed the 2025 Utility Fee Survey yet? (Not many of you have because early participation numbers are down from previous years.) I know you get overwhelmed with requests to complete surveys, and I really appreciate you taking the time to complete this one.
If you haven’t already, will you please participate in the 2025 Utility Fee Survey by clicking here?
Back to our regularly scheduled message…
Electronic payments are virtually labor-free
By their very nature, electronic payments are much less labor-intensive than cashier and mail payments. Depending on your billing software, electronic payments are posted automatically or imported from a file. In either case, they involve much less work than traditional payment methods.
For this utility, electronic payments include bank drafts, online and IVR payments, online banking checks, and kiosk payments. Granted, not all utilities have kiosks, but kiosk payments account for only about three-quarters of a percent of this utility’s total payments.
Electronic payments trend
For this utility, the actual number of electronic payments varies slightly month to month, but the trend line (shown by the brown dashed line) is trending upward. The trend is from about 80% three years ago to 85% for December of last year.
If you aren’t tracking this statistic, how do you know if your efforts to get your customers to pay electronically is working? (You are taking steps to encourage your customers to pay electronically, aren’t you…?)
Cashier and mail payments
Just how much does it cost you to accept cashier and mail payments? If you are interested in finding out, I have cashier and mail payment calculators on my website that will calculate the cost per payment for you.
Upcoming seminar
The Utility Management Committee of NC One Water is sponsoring a customer service seminar entitled Technology Implementation within Water Utilities: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. The seminar will be held at Guilford Technical Community College in Greensboro on March 18 and there is an option to attend virtually. I will be participating in a panel discussion about utility software implementations, and I’ve seen it all!
For more information, or to register for the seminar, please click here.
Are you processing payments as efficiently as possible?
Is your business office processing payments as efficiently as possible? If not, or if you are unsure, please call me at 919-673-4050 or email me at gary@utilityinformationpipeline.com for more information about how a business review could help you improve.
© 2025 Gary Sanders