Lawrence is a city located outside of Indianapolis, Indiana, with nearly 50,000 residents. The municipally-owned Lawrence Utilities serves 14,000 customers through its three water treatment facilities, four water storage tanks, and 11 water production wells. Lawrence Utilities also operates Citywide sewer pumping stations and sewer mains, fire hydrants, and manholes.
Challenge: Delivering a More Accessible and Flexible In-Person Payment Solution
Lawrence Utilities and its customers were plagued by challenges with in-person bill payments for essential services. Lawrence Utilities needed a self-service, in-person payment option that gave residents 24/7 access to pay bills while reducing person-to-person contact for the safety of residents and staff. Residents that preferred to make payments in-person struggled to pay their utility bills outside of payment center hours. This led to waves of inbound calls to customer service representatives.
- Lawrence Utilities was dealing with heavy foot traffic in payment centers
- Residents that preferred to make payments in-person struggled to access payment centers during working hours
- Customer service representatives were inundated with waves of inbound calls
Solution: Selecting Euna Payments to Provide a Modern 24/7 In-Person Payment Channel
To address these issues, Lawrence selected Euna Payments to implement one outdoor kiosk for 24/7 self-service cash, card, and check payments. Euna Payments’ back-end tool, Revenue Management, was implemented for staff to research, report, and reconcile all transactions on a single platform. The system is integrated with Lawrence’s Enterprise Resource Planning software (ERP), providing customers with immediate confirmation that their payment was received.
- 40% of kiosk payments are now made outside of business hours via Euna Payments kiosks
- 100% of cash-paying customers use the kiosks
- 30-40 second average transaction time
Results: Better Payment Access Increases Flexibility for Customers and Reduces Long Lines
The implementation of the user-friendly self-service kiosks has been well received. The increase in flexibility has led to a large percentage of customers making payments at kiosks outside of business hours. Additionally, all cash payments are conducted using the kiosks, and transactions are completed quickly and easily, reducing wait times and long lines. The Revenue Management dashboard helps speed up the reconciliation and reporting process for staff and customers.
Lawrence Utilities saw a significant increase in customer satisfaction through the added convenience and flexibility offered by the new solution.
Some of the benefits include:
- 24/7 access to make payments at kiosks and via the web solution
- Streamlined bill processing for the Billing Office through Revenue Management
- Enhanced security with Euna Payments assuming all PCI scope
A Flexible Payment Solution for Customers
City Controller & Utilities CFO, Tyler Douthit shared that “40% of our customers are making their payments at the kiosk outside of business hours. So those are people who would have had to leave work earlier or ruin their lunch break coming in to make a payment and wait in line. Instead, they can come after hours and make that payment.”