The Opportunity
Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. (MDU) was created in 1924 to serve the small farm communities on the border between Montana and North Dakota. Since then the company has grown into a large regional energy supplier and a Subsidiary of MDU Resources Group, Inc.
From those humble beginnings has sprung an organization that serves nearly 1.1M customers across more than 168,000 square miles (equal to 5.5% of the continental U.S.). But to meet the billing and payment needs of this expansive customer base, MDU needed to overcome the legacy limitations and drive the adoption of its new offerings.
The Solution
After an intensive search, MDU ultimately selected the Paymentus billing and payment solution due to its reliability, intuitive customer experience and range of payment options. Post-implementation, MDU customers enjoyed a wider variety of payment options compared to the previous provider’s offerings, including:
- Mastercard, Visa, American Express and Discover credit and debit cards
- PayPal, PayPal Credit, Venmo, Apple Pay and Google Pay Cash, debit and UcardsTM at Walmart stores
- Automated AutoPay for recurring payments
- Interactive voice response (IVR) phone payments
- ACH/eCheck (savings and checking accounts)
Paymentus also enabled MDU to present this expansive list of options through a modern online customer payment portal that simplified bill payments and account management. This was supported by proactive and personalized notifications, as well as customized marketing materials delivered by the Paymentus Client Adoption Success Team—a complimentary program that offers strategic consultation and marketing expertise for Paymentus clients.
The Results
The expanded payment options and optimized user experience, coupled with a CAST-driven pre-launch campaign, delivered immediate adoption of MDU’s new payment channels and customer portal. Within the first three months of its launch, MDU earned:
lift in AutoPay and recurring payments
lift in online payments overall
adoption of digital wallets
While MDU had dedicated specific staff time to address the anticipated inflow of customer questions pertaining to the launch, the intuitive experience and educational pre-launch materials coupled with the customer adoption marketing provided by Paymentus virtually eliminated customer queries.
“Our customers knew what to expect and were prepared for launch day. Call volumes didn’t spike, which shows how effective the messaging really was,” said Goicoechea.
For Carmen and her team, Paymentus and CAST felt like a natural extension of their organization. With the immediate adoption exceeding initial expectations, both MDU and Paymentus are excited to continue building on this momentum and continue driving increased customer satisfaction.
