Nghe An: Only 1.2% of customers pay electricity bills through banks

(Baonghean.vn) - The method of paying electricity bills via banks has been implemented by Nghe An Electricity since May 2014, up to now, there are more than 11,000 customers participating. However, this number has only reached over 1.2%; quite modest compared to the number of 900,000 customers of the electricity industry in the whole province.

Recently, Nghe An Electricity has cooperated with a number of banks in the area to provide electricity payment services through the system of these banks. Instead of paying electricity bills in cash as before, customers can participate in payment methods through banks such as: automatic payment (periodic deduction from account), collection at bank transaction counters, ATMs and payment via Internet banking, mobile banking.

Currently, most customers pay their electricity bills through banks, by bank transfer or automatic withdrawal from their accounts.

Ms. Dinh Thi Huyen (Quan Bau, Vinh City) said: "Both my husband and I work for the government, so we often have to take a few hours off work to pay the electricity bill, or sometimes have to ask a neighbor to pay it for us. So the service of automatically deducting money from my bank account to pay the electricity bill has helped me save time, and I don't have to worry about being charged if I forget to pay the bill like before."

Not only convenient for customers, the service of paying electricity bills via bank also contributes to limiting risks, increasing accuracy, ensuring safety for customers as well as cashiers in the process of collecting and paying electricity bills in cash.

Ms. Nguyen Kim Yen, Head of Personal Customer Service Department - BIDV in Nghe An said: To use the electricity bill payment service via bank, customers only need to register once at the bank, then every month the bank will automatically deduct the customer's account to pay to the electricity company. Or customers can pay the electricity bill directly at all bank transaction counters nationwide; transact via ATM card and pay via 24/7 electronic banking. These payment methods are free of charge. To check the accuracy of the amount the bank deducts to pay the electricity bill of their family, customers can compare it with the electronic bill of the electricity industry.

Customers can also use ATM cards to make electricity bill payments conveniently and quickly.

The implementation of payment services via banks also helps the electricity industry reduce human resources in the electricity bill collection stage and reduce pressure in management and service work when collecting and paying monthly electricity bills.

Although the number of customers participating in the electricity bill payment service via banks in Nghe An has increased every year (in 2015 there were 9,000 customers, now reaching 11,000 customers), it is quite modest compared to the 900,000 customers of the electricity industry in the whole province. In fact, customers participating in the electricity bill payment service are currently only concentrated in Vinh city and some towns: Cua Lo, Thai Hoa, Hoang Mai. The remaining districts: Nam Dan, Do Luong, Anh Son, Tan Ky, Yen Thanh, Dien Chau, Nghi Loc, Quy Hop ... have deployed the service but the number of customers participating in the service is very small.

According to Mr. Pham Cong Thanh - Chief Accountant - Nghe An Electricity Company, the current difficulty is that customers often have the habit of using cash. Most rural customers do not have ATM cards, they still prefer the direct payment method. A part of customers are still afraid to use electricity bill payment services through banks because they are afraid of errors and cannot be detected. Therefore, the number of customers participating in electricity bill payment services through banks is currently very low.

In 2016, Nghe An Electricity strives to achieve 20% of customers in the area paying electricity bills through banks and intermediary services (of which, the target for electricity in the plain districts is 15%, and electricity in the mountainous districts is 10%).

Moonlight