TELECOMMUNICATIONS MERCHANT ACCOUNTS

The telecommunications industry can benefit from the many payment options that NDMS has to offer. These include retail swipe accounts, virtual terminals for phone in payments, electronic check processing, eCommerce payment gateways and recurring billing. Contact an NDMS payments specialist to discuss an Enterprise Merchant Account Package.

Recurring payments

Recurring payments offer the telecommunications industry a simple, yet extremely powerful, customer service solution that has the potential to yield hundreds of millions of dollars in cost savings, improved cash flow and productivity.

Also known as automatic bill payment or direct payment, a recurring payments program enables your customers to automatically authorize a charge of the amount owed to a payment card, on a regular basis. Payments may be collected monthly, quarterly or at whatever interval the consumer and the service provider agree on; the billed amounts may be the same every time or vary from one payment to the next, such as with a phone bill. This ability to differentiate your business is becoming paramount to remaining competitive in the marketplace.

According to the U.S. Telecom Association, more than 44,000 telecom companies bring service to more than 90 million households and 25 million businesses across the country. Recurring payments are tailor-made for these telecom providers, who mail paper bills at regular intervals to millions of customers and then have to process a corresponding number of payments.

Recurring payments bring telecom providers guaranteed payments in full and on time, improved cash flow and collection, and reduced exposure to bad checks and write-offs.

Improving Cash Flow

A recent study by Jupiter Research reported the traditional billing and payment method costs service providers more than $1 per transaction - including the expenses associated with preparing and printing paper bills and envelopes, postage and manually processing paper check payments. This same study found that electronic bill presentment and payment, including recurring payments, dramatically slashes those costs to roughly 40 cents per bill.

Leveraging the Opportunities

Industry statistics indicate that recurring payments present a large opportunity for the telecom industry. A recent MasterCard survey suggests that only 16 percent of consumers use payment card recurring payments as a method for paying their wireless, long-distance and local telephone bills, with nearly 75 percent still writing checks. One reason may be that overall payment card acceptance within the telecom industry is less than 2 percent, as bank payment cards are accepted only on a limited basis for installation, security deposits and collections.  A recurring payments program also delivers benefits to your customers, including:

  • The convenience and security of knowing bills are paid automatically and on time
  • The option to revolve balances if choosing a credit card for payment
  • The opportunity to earn benefits and/or travel miles for paying their monthly bill with a payment card enrolled in a rewards program
  • The time and cost savings from not having to write checks, purchase stamps and envelopes, and make trips to the post office or mailbox