What is a Utility Payment System?

A utility payment system allows customers to view their bills, setup automatic payments and account notifications, as well as pay for multiple utilities accounts. It is available to residential and commercial customers who want greater flexibility with their online payment options. This service includes a $2.95 fee for each utility transaction processed.

Utility bill payment systems can help to make the meter-to-cash process easier for both customers and utility companies by streamlining processing, improving validation and simplifying payments. They can also help to reduce bad debt and enable rules-driven collections processes, making it faster and easier for customers to pay their bills on time. This can improve customer satisfaction, while reducing days sales outstanding and enhancing organizational cash flow.

Depending on the specific needs of each utility, they may offer a variety of options for payment processing. These include a customer portal, ACH payments and an integrated voice response system. An ACH payment is an electronic funds transfer that is initiated from the bank of the customer who is paying for the utility services, typically wrapped up in an EDI 820 Payment Order/Remittance Advice message.

A product is used to define the set of accounting details, rates and charges that would apply for each utility payment that your bank might receive from a customer in favor of a particular utility provider. When you enter a payment transaction against a product, Oracle FLEXCUBE applies the attributes and specifications that you have defined for that product. utility payment system