Metavante Enables Same-Day Credit And Debit Card Payments

Tampa Electric makes the Just Pay It Convenience solution available to its nearly 650,000 customers for a convenience fee1 both online ( tampaelectric.com ) and over the phone (866-300-3069) through an interactive voice response service.

The Just Pay It Convenience solution through Tampa Electric features one-time, expedited payments with same-day posting capability. In addition to credit and debit cards, Tampa Electric customers can initiate expedited payments with their checking account and make phone payments with optional bilingual support. Tampa Electric serves Florida customers in an area of about 2,000 square miles, including Hillsborough County and parts of Pasco, Pinellas and Polk counties.

“Utilities are faced with the same changing payments environment as any other business. Consumers are increasingly showing a preference for card-based payments and we wanted to provide that option. Since Tampa Electric is a regulated utility, we do not accept convenience fees or build the cost of accepting card-based payments into our rates,” said Barb Powers, director-Customer Services, Tampa Electric. “With Just Pay It Convenience, Metavante collects the convenience fee enabling the card-based payment, which allows utilities to offer the card option consumers prefer for many of their transactions.”

The installation of the Just Pay It Convenience solution from Metavante provides Tampa Electric with all the tools it needs to cover the entire life of a bill, from a single vendor. The Metavante-Tampa Electric relationship also includes CSF Designer, FasTest and e-bill functionality from Metavante’s Biller Service Provider suite. CSF Designer enables Tampa Electric to design paper bill statements and electronic bills (e-bills) that look just like the hard-copy version, including the same detailed information. FasTest automates many of the document-testing processes that industry analysts say consume between 40 and 60 percent of document creation hours by producing a side-by-side “before and after” presentation complete with highlighted changes.

Additionally, customer billing information flows seamlessly into the Just Pay It Convenience solution, as it does between Tampa Electric paper and e-bill applications. Through Metavante Biller Service Provider offerings, Tampa Electric enables customers to set up bill pay and e-bill accounts, view e-bills, and make one-time or recurring bill payments, with payment tracking available for every bill.

“Metavante aggressively enhances its payment offerings, like Just Pay It, to deliver efficiencies and a competitive advantage to our clients. Just Pay It Convenience supplies Tampa Electric with enhanced customer service through the additional payment channel of expedited credit and debit card payments,” said Holly Huggins, vice president, general manager Metavante CSF and Biller Service Provider. “Considering that Just Pay It Convenience may bring Tampa Electric bill payers who prefer a card option online for the first time, it can also serve as the first step towards the cost savings inherent in full adoption of electronic presentment and payment.”