Power firm to launch apps for Android, iOS

CEBU, Philippines - In its bid to promote online transactions, the Visayan Electric Company will soon roll out mobile applications for both Android and iOS this year.

VECO  chief operating officer Jaime Jose Y. Aboitiz said that the system is now running on Beta version and its being tested by the company's employees.

Aside from transacting payment online, the app also provides basic consumer information such as billing updates, electric consumption tracker, among others.

"The Veco App, which we outsourced, basically gives the client the 12 month historical power consumption. It also has a feature where they can check their electric bill. But we are also on the process of developing more features including payment, perhaps a kind that would help locate all or provide the nearest payment centers where our clients can pay their bills," Aboitiz said.

VECO now has over 300,000 customer base in its franchise area in Metro Cebu, with an average growth rate of five percent per year.

This move is will reinforce VECO's engagement in the high-tech savvy market, while it has already made its strong presence in the social media channels such as Twitter, Facebook, among others.

In its social media presence alone, VECO noticed a big shift of transaction engagement among customers, where customer interaction, services, inquiries are now largely done in the real-time social media interaction.

The introduction of the VECO "App" is also seen to boost VECO's entry to the "online world", where everything is to be transacted via the internet.

This will not only give convenience to customers, but also will promote cost-cutting measures for the company, Aboitiz added.

Meanwhile, VECO is still awaiting for the approval from Energy Regulatory Board (ERC) for the deployment of its eBilling system.

Now that email and online transactions are already traceable, eBill could slowly replace the traditional billing system.

Reportedly, ERC requires that hard copy bills still be issued by by electric utilities, as basis for service disconnection notices. Without the actual paper bills, it will be hard to prove that certain subscribers are not paying although they have, indeed, been billed.

The eBilling system will allow electric consumers to get their billing statement through email, minus the physical paper bill statements delivered to houses every month.

This move, could afford the company to release carbon footprint, save at least 380 thousand paper bills, logistical operation, among others.

Although eBill system has been adopted by several service entities like telecommunications, banks, VECO's proposition is for customers to opt either eBill or physical bill.

Aside from giving convenience and catching up the growing tech-savvy community, pursuing an eBill system plays a vital role in the sustainability effort of the company. — (FREEMAN)