10 Payment Channels to Elevate the Customer Experience

Omni-channel solutions are at the forefront of better customer engagements and interactions, leading to better customer experiences. KUBRA EZ-PAY^® On-Demand Payments facilitate secure payments across a multitude of payment channels to satisfy every customer type. From the unbanked and underbanked to millennials and even the baby boomers, KUBRA’s on-demand payments will meet your customers where they prefer to pay their bills, initiating faster and timely payments. Here are 10 different payment channels available through the KUBRA EZ-PAY solution. 

Desktop and Responsive Mobile Website

The KUBRA EZ-PAY desktop website is the backbone of the platform. Accessible via the biller’s website or the KUBRA EZ-PAY website, customers can make enrolled or guest payments by credit card, debit card, bank account, or with a downloadable, reusable EZ-Payslip™ that allows them to pay with cash at a local retailer. The responsive mobile website capabilities allow customers to also connect to the payment website seamlessly from any electronic device, with access to the same navigation and tools as they would from a desktop computer.

Mobile App

Today, 96% of Americans own a smartphone and mobile users spend 87% of their time in mobile apps. Therefore, the free KUBRA EZ-PAY mobile app is an ideal channel for customers who are avid mobile app users. With a mobile app, businesses can take advantage of mobile tools like the camera for quick credit card or check capture and push alerts that notify users of important due dates and information. The KUBRA EZ-PAY mobile app provides customers with access to the same tools as the desktop version in the palm of their hands, including a  digital wallet for faster payments, email and/or text message alerts to remind customers of upcoming due dates, bill history, and more. 

Two-Way Text Message

Text message is not a new channel for customers, but it has recently become a preferred channel for millennials when it comes to communicating with businesses. A two-way text message allows businesses to alert customers when a payment is due with bill details such as the amount due and the due date, and then allows the customer to respond with a shortcode to confirm their payment in real time. A text message conversation is a great way to engage customers in a channel that they use several times a day. And, with the average response time of a text message being just 90 seconds, there is a good chance that more customers will pay on time.   

Email Message

58% of adults admit that they wake up and immediately check their email and another 21% of people check their email more than five times per day. This shows why email remains one of the most popular channels for businesses to communicate with their customers. Not only does KUBRA EZ-PAY deliver smart payment reminders via email, the KUBRA iDoxs^® e-billing solution also includes a module for secure email delivery. This feature allows businesses to deliver a secure email to a customer with a PDF of their bill and a link to the biller-direct website to process a secure payment. Or, for an even more convenient billing and payment experience, businesses can deliver a secure email with a password-protected, PDF-attached bill with the ability to securely pay directly from the email. 

Self-Service Kiosk

Every business has a customer set that prefers to pay in person. Self-service is one of the main factors that lead to better customer experiences and kiosks are a step in that direction. Self-service kiosks alleviate several pain points of this type of customer. By integrating a kiosk solution, businesses can eliminate long wait lines at walk-in centers and free up customer service representatives to address more pressing issues than simple payments. The KUBRA EZ-PAY Self-Service Kiosk solution offers several kiosk models for indoor and outdoor access, which allows customers to make their walk-in payments outside of the regular business hours of weekdays from nine to five.  

Retail Cash Locations

As of 2018, there were approximately 55 million American adults who were unbanked or underbanked and waiting for a utility payment solution that satisfies their preference for cash. The KUBRA EZ-PAY Retail Cash Payment solution does just that by enabling utilities to accept cash payments at over 60,000 tier-one retailers across the United States. KUBRA aggregates cash payment networks to allow businesses to offer their customers the most expansive network of retailers that accept bill payment in cash. This convenient solution is ideal for this customer demographic that primarily uses mobile phones by integrating not only the functionality of a printed payment slip to use at the retailer but also a mobile payment slip.  

Point of Sale

If you’re accepting in-person payments at walk in centers, a point of sale machine will enable more payment acceptance. Directing customers to a telephone in the corner of the room to process a credit card payment after they’ve waited in line to speak with a representative will set your business up for a poor customer experience. The KUBRA EZ-PAY Point of Sale solution prepares businesses with a series of point of sale devices that integrate seamlessly with the KUBRA EZ-PAY On-Demand Payment platform to enable accurate and real-time tracking and payment consolidation. 

CSR-Assisted Payments

Businesses with customers who prefer to pay their bills over the phone with a live customer service representative take on the responsibility of ensuring their call centers are PCI-compliant. This can be costly and time-consuming. The KUBRA EZ-PAY PCI-Compliant Biller Call Center enables businesses to experience better customer engagements in a call center that is outside of their PCI scope while providing customers an intuitive and positive payment experience that conceals payment card details from the CSR.

Chatbots

Interactive chatbots have grown from a nice-to-have to expected. 68% of mobile executives are either regularly using, piloting, or planning to launch a chatbot on their website in the next 12 months because the demand and expectations already exist. KUBRA EZ-PAY integrates with the KUBRA IQ solution, leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning to facilitate payments and more across multiple platforms. When 90% of customers expect an immediate answer to issues relating to customer service a chatbot is a simple solution to meet these expectations. KUBRA chatbots can be used as a standalone bot on a website as shown on www.kubra.com, or can be integrated with Facebook Messenger.

Smart Speakers

“Hey Alexa, how many Americans own a smart speaker?” - 43 million. That is more people than live in California. The reach is there, as is the familiarity, and businesses are recognizing the importance of building connections through smart speakers. Similar to the chatbots, KUBRA EZ-PAY integrates with the KUBRA IQ solution to utilize the artificial intelligence and machine learning for better conversations and interactions via smart speakers. This solution allows customers to easily pay a bill or report a service interruption hands-free from anywhere in their home. 

In Conclusion

Traditional mail-in for payments is still an option you want to have available to customers who are not ready to dive into the digital payments world. But as time goes by and technology progresses, more and more of your customers will expect secure digital channels to process payments and much more. To learn more about how KUBRA EZ-PAY can work for your business, contact us today for a live demo!