A Fortune 500 utility company serving 3 million customers across four states, needed to develop a solution to enroll low-income customers in a bill payment assistance program. The solution had to be available to a diverse customer base, securely capturing and storing their consent to participate in the program.
“ACI not only developed an innovative solution that was accessible to our diverse customer base, but they also deployed it in a matter of days, not months. With ACI’s help, we were able to quickly provide assistance to our most vulnerable customers, which include senior citizens and those with disabilities, in a manner accessible to all.”
Manager, Payment Processing Fortune 500 Utility Company
“Thanks to our partnership with ACI Worldwide, we were able to focus on reaching out to our customers; they took care of the technical details and exceeded our expectations with what and how they delivered for us.”
Manager, Payment Processing Fortune 500 Utility Company
The challenge
This Fortune 500 utility company serves some of the nation’s highest populations of low-income households, with 25 percent of their customers living below the poverty line, more than twice the national average of 11.6 percent. The utility committed more than $10 million of additional funds to assist vulnerable customers during a period of high usage and rising rates. It was challenged with enrolling them in one of its financial assistance programs, as it needed to capture their consent digitally and securely, in a channel accessible to all.
The solution
The utility reached out to ACI Worldwide to brainstorm and create a solution that could be deployed rapidly, with limited resources. The ACI Speedpay team developed an innovative solution that leveraged the utility company’s existing IVR platform.
The results
Within two weeks, the ACI team configured, tested and deployed the enhancements, enabling the company to quickly provide its most vulnerable customers with financial assistance.
The utility company launched a multi-media outreach campaign targeting low-income and other vulnerable customers, with a goal of enrolling 10,000 households
Customers calling the IVR were screened and qualified for assistance, which then recorded and securely stored their voice authorization to participate
Within the first two days, more than 90,000 customers enrolled in one of the utility company’s bill payment assistance programs
In addition to the financial resources provided to low-income customers, the utility company assists them with energy efficiency and weatherization programs to help them manage their energy costs even further. The utility continues its long-standing partnership with ACI Worldwide, working together to innovate additional solutions to deliver financial assistance and reduce fraud for its most vulnerable customers.
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