For service providers, improving the utility payment experience is arguably one of the most positively impactful things an organization can do. Namely, because enhancing this touchpoint is beneficial for everyone involved – the customer, organizational leadership, and operational staff members can all stand to benefit from a smoother payment experience. 

The City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management (DWM) would come to learn just that after struggling with an Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) platform that was preventing the organization from offering a great payment experience. The City of Atlanta DWM is a trusted regional public utility serving 1.2 million customers each day with core services like the treatment and delivery of safe drinking water, treatment and collection of wastewaters, and management of stormwater in the City of Atlanta. 

With that massive influx of payments, the department’s inability to view customer payments in real time created significant challenges on both the frontend (for the payer) and the backend (for the staff). As a result, Atlanta’s DWM decided to search for a digital payment platform that could help them overcome their existing payment processing obstacles to both improve operational efficiency and increase their customer satisfaction (CSAT). 

Bad payment experiences harm CSAT and internal operations 

The department’s lag in payments processing, specifically the Atlanta DWM’s inability to access payments in real time, was causing frustrations for both city staff members and its water utility customers. With the department’s former EBPP platform, it could take up to seven days to simply view an updated payment – and with a customer base of 1.2 million, this disconnect was the cause of major operational backlogs and an overwhelming number of frustrated customer phone calls. 

Other challenges included: 

• Poor user experience led to low customer satisfaction 
• Increased customer service call volume 
• Lack of self-service functionality increased staff workload 
• High costs associated with printing and mailing paper bills 

Access to real-time data improves the utility payment experience 

After years of inefficiencies brought on by an outdated payment system, the Atlanta DWM realized the organization needed a digital payment platform that would easily integrate with their existing self-service portal to provide real-time payment data and improve operational workflows. 

The City of Atlanta DWM chose InvoiceCloud as its next EBPP provider, as the department found our uniquely designed digital payment platform could help them: 

• Improve payment processing with real-time data 
• Drive self-service and e-payment adoption 
• Increase customer satisfaction  
• Reduce customer service call volumes 
• Streamline and improve operational efficiencies 

Improved payment experience boost e-payment adoption 

After working with InvoiceCloud on a seamless integration with its Systems & Software’s self-service customer portal, Capricorn (powered by SilverBlaze) the Atlanta DWM has been able to accomplish: 

• An incredible 614% increase in e-payment adoption 
• Higher customer satisfaction scores due to superior user experience and enhanced customer communications 
• Significantly reduced call volumes with real-time payment updates and an increase in e-adoption, allowing staff members to spend less time on the phone and more time focusing on high priority projects 
• Lower print and mail costs due to an all-time high paperless adoption 

To learn more about how InvoiceCloud helped the City of Atlanta Department of Watershed Management improve its payment processes, download the free case study now.