1. www.esource.com Monday, January 3, 2014 What Customers Want From Billing and Payment Features Sarah Fiebiger Senior Analyst, Market Research Services @ESourceSarah January 3, 2014

2. www.esource.com || 2014 E Source Top 15 Utility Customer Services & Information Features by Channel Website (Desktop/ Laptop) Mobile Website/ App IVR Contact information View your current bill Payment and billing options Check your account balance Manage your online account Report an outage or gas leak View a summary of your account information Pricing options Make a one-time payment View your payment history Contact information View your current bill Report a power outage or gas leak Check your account balance Payment and billing options Manage your online account View a summary of your account information Make a one-time payment View your payment history Access outage or gas leak information specific to your location Reach a live agent Report a power outage or gas leak Your account balance Find out if your payment was received Outage or gas leak information specific to your location Whether and when service will be disconnected Start, stop, or transfer service when moving General updates on outages or gas leak restorations Submit a service order Status of a service order 2 Whats Important to Residential Customers Notes: Results from the E Source Residential Customer Service Survey 2013, a survey of more than 1,000 residential customers in the US and Canada. QuestionsHow important, if at all, is it to you that each of the following types of information be available at your energy provider's full (desktop or laptop) website?, How important, if at all, is it to you that each of the following types of customer services be available at your energy provider's full (desktop or laptop) website?, "How important, if at all, is it to you that each of the following types of information be available at your energy provider's mobile website or mobile app?", "How important, if at all, is it to you that each of the following types of customer services be available at your energy provider's mobile website or mobile app?, How important, if at all, is it to you that you hear an option for each of the following types of information on your energy provider's automated phone menu?, How important, if at all, is it to you that you hear an option for each of the following types of customer services on your energy provider's automated phone menu? The highest-scoring features are shown based on the top-two box score, which is the percentage of residential customers who selected a 9 or 10 on a 10-point scale, where 1 = not at all important and 10 = very important. Respondents were asked to rate the importance of 34 different features. u E Source

3. www.esource.com || 2014 E Source3 What Residential Customers Have Used Top 10 Utility Customer Services & Information Features Residential Customers Have Accessed Website (Desktop/ Laptop) Mobile Website/ App IVR View payment and billing options View your current bill Check your account balance View your payment history Make a one-time payment View a summary of your account information Manage your online account View your energy usage history View contact information View past bills View payment and billing options Check your account balance View your current bill View contact information View your payment history Make a one-time payment View a summary of your account information View your energy usage history View energy-saving tips Manage your online account Make a one-time payment Hear your account balance Hear billing options Report a power outage or gas leak Get extra time to pay your bill Find out if your payment was received Hear the date and amount of the last payment posted Set up recurring monthly payments Set up a payment arrangement to pay off an overdue balance Hear general updates on outages or gas leak restorations Notes: Results from the E Source Residential Customer Service Survey 2013, a survey of more than 1,000 residential customers in the US and Canada. Question"Using the following devices, what have you done on your energy provider's website in the past 12 months? - Mobile device (smartphone or tablet) - Desktop or laptop computer automated phone system. Features that 25 percent or more of respondents selected are shown in the table. Respondents could select from 30 different features. E Source

4. www.esource.com || 2014 E Source4 Electronic Payments are Taking Over 39% 45% 49% 55% 0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100% 2009 2010 2011 2012 Averagepercentageofpayments Year E SourceNote: Results from the E Source E-Business Metrics Survey 2013.

5. www.esource.com || 2014 E Source Decrease in Traditional Payment Channel Adoption 2012: 2.8% 2011: 3.5% Electronic, phone IVR 2012: 27.0% 2011: 25.3% Electronic, websites 2012: 23.4% 2011: 19.0% Electronic, other 2012: 7.0% 2011: 9.0% Agent-assisted walk-in 2012: 37.1% 2011: 39.0% Paper checks, bulk processed E SourceNote: Results from the E Source E-Business Metrics Survey 2013.

6. www.esource.com || 2014 E Source6 Rise in Debit / Credit Card Payments 2012: 7.7% 2011: 4.6% Electronic, bank card 2012: 42.8% 2011: 44.2% Electronic, other 2012: 43.9% 2011: 49.1% Non-electronic E Source Note: Results from the E Source E-Business Metrics Survey 2013.

7. www.esource.com || 2014 E Source Results from E Source 2013 Utility Website & IVR Benchmarks 7

8. www.esource.com || 2014 E Source8 Electric and Gas Utility Websites Features Found on Computers

9. www.esource.com || 2014 E Source9 Electric and Gas Utility Websites Features Found on Mobile Devices

10. www.esource.com || 2014 E Source10 Features Found on Electric and Gas Utility IVRs

11. www.esource.com || 2014 E Source11 Best Practice Example: Account Balance (Computer) Source: Hydro Qubec

12. www.esource.com || 2014 E Source12 Account Balance (Computer) Design Considerations Best Practices Display the account balance in bold or in a different font color on the first page after logging in Make it clear whether the account balance shown is current and if it reflects recent payments Clearly state how often the balance information is updated List the bill due date and the date and amount of the most recent payment on the summary page in addition to the account balance Pitfalls to Avoid Not explaining whether the account balance reflects recent charges or payments to the account Not including information on the last payment made Burying account balance information within other text

13. www.esource.com || 2014 E Source13 Best Practice Example: Account Balance (Mobile) Source: Duke Energy

14. www.esource.com || 2014 E Source14 Account Balance (Mobile) Design Considerations Best Practices Optimize the secure portion of your website for viewing on a mobile device Display the account balance in bold or in a different color on the first page immediately after login Allow customers to log in to their account from the home page Pitfalls to Avoid Not including a date and time stamp when the account balance was last updated Failing to list important informationsuch as the bill due date, a link to pay online, and the amount and date of the last payment directly on the account summary page Not explaining the differences between last billed amount, total amount due, and current balance

15. www.esource.com || 2014 E Source15 Best Practice Example: Account Balance (IVR) Source: Duke Energy

16. www.esource.com || 2014 E Source16 Account Balance (IVR) Design Considerations Best Practices Include the as of date for the account balance; this helps the customer know whether the account balance reflects the most recent payment Provide differentiation between account balance and amount due, if the customer is on a payment plan (such as budget billing) Give options for information and tasks related to account balance, such as repeating the balance, late fees, last payment received, date of the next meter read, date and amount of the next payment due, or making a payment Provide clear, concise, logical menu options such as Payments and account information, then Current balance or Account and billing information, followed by Account balance Pitfalls to Avoid Requiring callers to enter too many account verifiers or making the verification process too long Hanging up on the customer after the account balance is provided Transferring a customer to a customer service representative or asking them to go to the website to find the account balance Playing marketing messages that prevent callers from getting to the account balance option quickly

17. www.esource.com || 2014 E Source17 Best Practice Example: Make a Payment (Computer) Source: Wisconsin Public Service

18. www.esource.com || 2014 E Source18 Make a Payment (Computer) Design Considerations Best Practices Allow customers to pay their bill online without registering or logging in and without having to sign up for paperless billing Provide a variety of payment options, including by credit or debit card, by checking account, and both one-time and recurring payments Enable customers to store their payment information for ease of use in the future, preferably after theyve conducted their transaction Make the page formatting appealing by including graphics, having a clearly labeled Make a Payment button, using a font thats not too small to read, and having minimal text on the page Allow customers to change their default bank easily for payments and automatic withdrawals Include easy-to-read instructions or graphics on how to identify routing and account numbers on checks, and how to find the customer account number on the utility bill Clearly present processing fees to the customer in advance if they are required Pitfalls to Avoid Failing to provide information on how quickly the payment will post to the account Charging fees for payments, even if they are third-party fees Making it confusing to find the Make a Payment feature by referring to it by its vendors name or using verbiage that is not intuitive to users (such as Pre-authorized Payments) Placing excessive advertisingsuch as banner ads and other marketing messageson the Make a Payment pages, which can be disruptive and confusing Having successive steps open new windows during the payment process rather than staying in the same window

19. www.esource.com || 2014 E Source19 Best Practice Example: Make a Payment (Mobile) Source: TXU Energy

20. www.esource.com || 2014 E Source20 Make a Payment (Mobile) Design Considerations Best Practices Include a link to pay the bill in a prominent position on the home page and on the Account Summary page after customers log in Optimize the Make a Payment features for mobile devices by automatically detecting that a mobile device is being used; using small screen space appropriately; increasing text size; using bold, high-contrast type; and having large, colorful buttons Allow customers to pay online without logging in and without paying a fee Autopopulate account information for customers who log in to make a payment so they only have to enter the amount and date they want to pay Include information about any fees, including the fee amount, before the customer begins the payment process Provide graphic illustrations of where to find the needed information on the check and the customer account number on the utility bill Pitfalls to Avoid Failing to ensure that pages load properly on a variety of mobile devices Forcing customers to use the full website or sending them from a mobile website to the full website to make a payment on a mobile device, instead of providing a fully mobile- optimized online payment process Not providing information about when the payment will post to the account

21. www.esource.com || 2014 E Source21 Best Practice Example: Make a Payment (IVR) Source: PPL Electric Utilities

22. www.esource.com || 2014 E Source22 Make a Payment (IVR) Design Considerations Best Practices If using a third-party payment provider, transfer the caller directly to that provider When using a third-party provider, do not require callers to authenticate within that system if they already authenticated within the utility's IVR Notify the customer of the fee amount, if any, for making a payment by phone, and do so before the payment process begins Provide a specific prompt like "make a payment" instead of vague phrasing like "payment options" Offer customers the option to both make a one-time payment and set up recurring payments Pitfalls to Avoid Making customers call a separate number to pay the bill Hiding the pay-by-phone option in a menu full of options that are not relevant to the task Having options that sound similar so the caller is not sure which one to choose When transferring the customer to a third-party payment provider, allowing the third party to hang up on the customer if authentication information is not available rather than transferring them to a customer service representative

23. www.esource.com || 2014 E Source23 Questions?

24. www.esource.com || 2014 E Source24 Sarah Fiebiger Senior Analyst, Market Research Services 303-345-9126 sarah_fiebiger@esource.com For More Information Have a question? Ask our experts: www.esource.com/question