Time to differentiate through a better customer experience
How Utilita streamlined payment processing
Improving the customer experience through payment processing
Upgrading from a legacy industry platform
Until recently Utilita, like many UK energy providers, used a common third-party payment platform set up years before by the energy industry. But this payment platform couldn't offer Utilita the real-time visibility of transactions it now wanted. And growth in Utilita's peak top-up volumes—which could reach up to 16 transactions per second—was starting to over-stretch this third-party payment system. As a result, Utilita's customers couldn't always reliably complete their top-ups.
Improving a confusing customer experience
When Utilita launched its own mobile app for checking meter balances, there was no option to integrate it with the payment app. Not only did customers have to use two separate apps, but a top-up made in the payment app could take 24 hours to reflect in the Utilita app, leading to a disjointed experience for customers.
Increasing functionality
It was also impossible for customers to top up both gas and electricity with one payment. And the cost of transactions to Utilita meant they couldn't offer top-ups any smaller than £10 ($13.38)—which could sometimes be a stretch for customers on a limited budget.
Utilita is a large UK provider of gas and electricity that specialises in serving customers through pre-payment meters. He's referring to the time, not long ago, when Utilita had very little control over the top-up experience of its customers.
It's difficult for utility companies to differentiate on product, so—price aside—competitive advantage often comes down to the customer experience. And the context for customer experience has shifted dramatically.
3x as much online business in a few years
Utilita had seen its online business grow from around 20 percent to 60 percent in three-to-four years. So perception of the brand was increasingly shaped by customer frustration with the disjointed and not-always-reliable digital top-up experience. The company was determined to do something about this.
It was a big step for Utilita to take control of its own payment process, especially given the highly regulated nature of the energy industry. But less than a year after Utilita started exploratory talks with Cybersource and Visa, all commercial, regulatory and technical considerations had been sorted. And then things moved quickly indeed.
Smoother experience
Within three months, Utilita was connected to the Cybersource payment platform and offering its credit customers (a minority of its customer base) the ability to pay their bills seamlessly and intuitively, directly through the Utilita app using Visa Click to Pay.
Ready for peaks
Three months later, top-ups for pre-payment customers became available in the Utilita app, and some weeks later through the Utilita web portal. The minimum top-up is now £2, it's easy to top up both fuels at once, and the Cybersource platform easily handles peak volumes.
Strengthened security
While not directly visible to customers, Utilita is helping to protect sensitive payment data from compromise with Cybersource’s tokenisation and secure hosted payments services. 3-D Secure, the authentication protocol for PSD2 SCA, is also supported, helping future-proof the business.
Exceeding expectations
The fruits of great teamwork
55%
Uplift in app uptake
Immediately after the launch of the top-up feature, takeup of Utilita's mobile app grew some 55 percent faster than it had in the previous eight months. Positive reviews and ratings quickly followed, with Utilita scoring four stars on Trustpilot not long after the launch. The app also won the Best App category in the Uswitch Energy Awards 2020.
100%
Real-time visibility
With the Cybersource payment platform integrated into Utilita's CRM and analytics systems, the company has a second-by-second view of every payment. They can track (for example) how long it takes to top up or how many app users top up both fuels at once, and immediately spot if there are any issues impacting customers. With these and other insights, Utilita is better placed to deliver meaningful service improvements.
Lights out on needless worry
The fact that Utilita top-ups are now handled through an integrated platform means that meter balances—and crucially, low-credit alerts—are now accurate as a matter of course. Customers can stay on top of their expenditure and fuel availability with greater confidence, and feel comfortable about topping up "just in time".
Fully switched on
The partnership has continued apace. Cybersource expertise in integrating payments has helped Utilita to accelerate the redevelopment of its mobile app from the ground up, to create a more flexible platform for customer-focused innovation. It also opens up the door for Utilita to become even more flexible with its emergency credit and Power Up features, which extend important lifelines to those who need help keeping the lights on.
Transformed responsiveness
Visibility translates into much more responsive service all around. A recent payment processing connectivity issue, for example, was spotted before a single customer could call to complain. When customers did call, the customer service team already knew what the problem was and could respond appropriately.
Virtuous circle
Having taken control of payment through partnership with Cybersource, Utilita finds itself in a virtuous circle. Because customers have a smoother online experience, they have less reason to call customer service. This frees representatives to deal more effectively with customers who do have an issue, so those customers then have a better experience and faster resolution. Everyone benefits at every interaction.