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Click to edit Master title style. Utility Payment Conference. Duke Energy’s Payment Strategy. Jeff Hill Senior Business Operations Analyst October, 2009. 5 states: North Carolina, South Carolina, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky 47,000 square miles of service area
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Click to edit Master title style Utility Payment Conference Duke Energy’s Payment Strategy Jeff Hill Senior Business Operations Analyst October, 2009
5 states: North Carolina, South Carolina, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky • 47,000 square miles of service area • 28,000 MW of regulated generating capacity • 4 million retail electric customers • 500,000 retail gas customers U.S. Franchised Electric & Gas
History of Duke’s Walk In Payment Processing • Since 1988, Duke has used an on-line cash system for real time (or pending) payment posting. Real time payment information is vital for debt management activities and customer satisfaction. • Several upgrades via in-house developed systems (i.e. automatic reconnect orders). • Late 2007, RFP sent out to vendors and Global Express selected as vendor for Duke’s SE pay agent network.
Previous Walk-In Payment Strategy • Network of Payment Centers and authorized pay agents • Utilize in-house developed cash drawer systems • Payment centers are Duke Energy owned/leased and staffed by contractors • Duke contracts directly with each pay agent • Customer support (connect, disconnect, high bill) is performed via customer service phone to Call Center
Current Walk-In Payment Strategy • Move away from Duke supported infrastructure (i.e. workstations, broadband, banking, and support) • Utilize network of vendor managed pay agents • Evaluate existing Payment Centers and add vendor managed pay agents to provide customers additional options or potentially move to all vendor pay agents when timing is right
CPI – Common Payment Interface • A web service enabling 2-way communication between Duke and our various pay channels. • Search capabilities for various pay channels. For example, pay agents can search by customer name, address or phone number to locate a customer’s account without a bill stub. • More information provided to the pay channel for customer’s benefit, i.e. balance owed (current and past due), disconnect date and amount to avoid disconnect. Helps optimize self-service channels for customers and provides consistency across all channels. • Communication back to pay channel so customer is aware of what action will take place. For pay agents, messaging is printed on the receipt such as “Disconnect Stopped”. • Provides common channel to route all information flowing between Duke and its payment vendors (pay agent, IVR/Phone, e-Bill). • Enables future adoption of new payment methods (kiosks, cell phone, etc.) and is scalable for new acquisitions or mergers. 6
Customer Benefits of CPI • Immediate recognition of payment such that correct account balances will be recognized and quoted by the IVR and WEB • Immediately stops disconnection or issues a reconnect where feasible, reducing disconnects in error • No manual intervention -- eliminates the need for a customer to call back and supports Duke’s efforts for first call resolution • Builds customer confidence that credit actions are taken care of properly based on confirmation messages • Customers will have access to multiple self-service channels to obtain current account information and make payments (i.e. IVR, WEB, e-Bill)
Future Strategy • More choices/options for customer convenience • Push to lower cost channels and self service models • Evaluate remaining Payment Centers • Expansion of pay agent network • Evaluate kiosk approach that would integrate real time payments via CPI
Questions? Speaker Information: Jeff Hill Senior Business Operations Analyst 704-382-5993 jeffrey.hill@duke-energy.com