Chris Trainor, Vice President of Growth and Strategic Partnerships, Paymentus
Steve Jobs once said, “Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.”
Simplicity is a driving force at Paymentus, as evidenced by our recently unveiled tagline, Intelligent Interactions, Simplified Payments. The term “simplified payments” may be two words, but the meaning behind them is both powerful and loaded.
Consider, what is simple to a Gen Z customer? What is simple to a cash-preferred customer? What is a simple online experience?
Better yet, how can your organization add this simplicity in a way that is…simple?
Why Simplicity is Essential in Billing and Payments
Friction, confusion, and forgetfulness are all leading causes of late or missed payments. The good news is that these are all preventable through the deployment of modern systems that address the end-to-end customer experience. Let’s expand on each roadblock to payments.
How Simplicity Addresses the Biggest Bill Pay Roadblocks
As Steve Jobs said, once you achieve simplicity, you can move mountains—or in this case, roadblocks. There are several ways to ease complexity frustrations, and all are available within the Paymentus platform.
Streamline Payments for Digital and Cash-Preferred Customers
For starters, securely removing the need for login credentials can streamline the customer experience. BillWallet®, our patented, AI-based solution, does just that. By offering account access through a secure ID, customers no longer have to remember passwords or their payment data.
That’s one way we’re helping digital customers, but cash-based customers may be less inclined or able to use a digital wallet. Simplifying life for your cash customers isn’t about adding lobby hours, it’s about meeting them where they are, which is why Paymentus offers in-store payments accepted at places like Walmart, CVS, Dollar General, Walgreens, and more. Now they can pay on nights and weekends, all while doing their regular errands.
Make Billing Interactive with Agentic AI
But what about the bills themselves? Consider that until recently, your standard paper bill hadn’t changed much in decades. Today, customers expect more—more information, more actionability, and a greater view into your account. It’s not just about printing clearer statements, it’s about making those statements more interactive.
Imagine using the power of Agentic AI to allow consumers to speak to their bill and ask for updates, set up payment plans, or resolve questions about charges. It’s not just possible, it’s here. There’s also the ability to streamline payments by offering QR codes linking to payment locations and account dashboards.
Address Forgetfulness with Proactive Notifications
Try as they might, your everyday customer is still going to forget a payment here and there. This places the onus on your organization to play the role of reminder. Proactive notifications delivered through email and text offer the assistance every customer needs to stay connected to their account.
In keeping with our theme, it’s not hard to be a proactive organization. Agent Dashboard, a standard part of the Paymentus solution, offers the ability to segment audiences and quickly create campaigns that alert customers to upcoming due dates. For one client, the ability to reach out to customers in this way resulted in 50% of its contacted audience making a payment within the hour.
3 Questions to Help Simplify Your Payments Strategy
As you can see, simplified payments are about much more than just the actual transaction. It’s about a full line of service offerings aimed at easing the burden of remembering or making a payment each month. Here are three questions to consider as you craft your simplicity strategy:
- Can my customers make their payments each month without having to enter their information? Asking customers to remember and enter login data and payments information monthly risks payment abandonment. If you can’t offer a fast-pass experience like BillWallet, allowing customers to save and store information is the next best thing.
- Can my billing and payment solution enable proactive reminders and notifications? What’s more, does it cost extra to do so? Your team must have the ability to segment audiences, send timely communications, and deliver messages through multiple channels. Anything short of this leaves your organization vulnerable to customer memory lapses.
- Can my billing and payments solution provider easily implement new methods and channels, such as in-store cash? In much the same way that Steve Jobs’ Apple products were designed specifically to work in perfect unison with each other, your billing and payment solution should be built to easily incorporate expanded capabilities as needs arise. If every change, update, or addition is a major undertaking, it’s time to look elsewhere.
Want to see how Paymentus can help your organization simplify your end-to-end processes? Let’s talk! Our team can share an exclusive demo, gain an understanding of your needs and challenges, and offer insights on transforming your platform.
