1. Unlocking eBill Adoption through Email Success at Piedmont
Presented by: Mia Haynes & Chad Somodi

2. Some Background: Piedmont and Striata

3. Piedmont Natural Gas Service Area
2012 Contribution to PNY
2012 Pre-Tax Contribution by Venture
Assets
EPS
Regulated Non-Utility 2% 5%
Unregulated (SouthStar) 1% 7%

4. Stable Customer Diversification
Margin
(2012)
Volumes
(2012)
__________________________________________________________
324 MMDt
$575 Million

5. About Striata: 300 clients in 14 countries
USA Utility clients include:
National Grid
8 brands
Nicor Gas
Piedmont Natural Gas
Questar Gas
United Water
CPS Energy
City of Tallahassee
Denver Water
Baton Rouge Water
Whitby Hydro
IREA
Just Energy
City of Virginia Beach
American Water

6. PUSH eBilling via email
No proactive enrollment – KEY DIFFERENTIATOR
Only need address
No username / password required
No website visit / registration required
Automated eConsent opt-in or opt-out s
Send first secure document or bill:
One click to open, One click to decrypt
Looks identical to paper bill, all detail included
One click to pay (no website to visit)
Include personalized marketing opportunities
Total of 3 clicks to decrypt, view and pay without linking to a single webpage

7. Why Piedmont chose PUSH eBills: the stats

8. Major Benefits identified by Piedmont
Reduce Hard Costs
Decrease in Print, Postage, and Labor costs, Improved Green Footprint
Increase Customer Satisfaction
Ease of Use, Improved Feel of Communication, Become the Standard
Shorten Time to Delivery
Decrease Bill Delivery Timeline
More Electronic Payments
Reduced Labor Costs and Related Expenses, Ease of Use, More Options to Pay
Better Communication
Improved Customized Communication at a Reduced Cost

9. Customers want their bills delivered
“The Future of Electronic Bill Presentment & Payment in North America, InfoTrends”
Question: Through which channels would you prefer to receive your bills?

10. Email best way to reach customers
Customers are more likely to use their smartphone for than for making calls
Q: For which of the following do you typically use a tablet/smartphone?
72%
67%
Source: Adobe 2013 Digital Publishing Report

11. Customer Experience - The Email

12. Opt-in introductory email: Paper customers
The biller proactively delivers intro
1-click sign-up!
Just click “Choose eBills.”
Sample eBill attached to “touch and feel”
No barriers to enroll.
No registration
No username
No password
Works on mobile

13. Introductory email: Existing eBill customers
Conversion for existing portal eBill customers.
Explanation they will start receiving PUSH eBIlls unless they choose otherwise
All s = opportunity personalized marketing to customers 13

14. Email body with encrypted PDF attached
Exact replica of paper bill is attached as a secure PDF
Authentication box for customer security
Clear, intuitive instructions on opening PDF
Customizable marketing
real estate
Customer can unsubscribe back to paper at any time

15. Customer Experience - The Encrypted Attachment

16. Shared secret unlocks the bill
Attached PDF secured with Bank-Level Encryption

17. Customer enters ‘shared secret’ to decrypt
Piedmont customers enter billing zip code to decrypt and open bill
PDFs are designed to be mobile-viewing ready – can be opened by any mobile-capable device

18. Pay directly from PDF eBill
Striata inserts BillPay on page 1. Exact bill follows on next PDF pages
Multiple accounts can be consolidated in one bill.
Multiple payment options provided to customers.
Save payment info with Western Union.

19. Payment Confirmation: Great Marketing

20. Piedmont’s Success – The Results

21. Paperless Adoption Stats
Dec 2011
Oct 2012
2013 Goal
eBill adoption as % of total customer base
4.4%
8.4%
15%
eBill adoption as % of addresses
16.8%
32.0%
30%
Not sure about the relationship between addresses and total adoption

22. $21,123.23 in monthly cost savings
Cost Savings Analysis
$0.45 cents per paper bill
$0.192 per eBill
$0.258 in savings per bill
February volumes = 81,873
$21, in monthly cost savings
$253,478 in annual savings
Cost per eBill decreases as eBill volume increases
Not sure about the relationship between addresses and total adoption

23. Questions?