Avoid Hiccups With Card-on-File Customers

EDITOR’S NOTE: This blog post is sponsored by Avatas.

Energy marketers can improve customer service and eliminate a troubling bump in the customer relations road by automatically updating credit card information when it changes—without having to interrupt the customer.

Avatas and other credit card processors offer merchants a premium service known as Account Updater that simplifies the process of updating a credit card on file when the card expires and is replaced—an event that typically repeats once every three years for each card.

Marci Gagnon, Vice President of Business Development and Operations at AVATAS Payment Solutions, says the Account Updater service is a great choice for energy marketers. It virtually eliminates the administrative chores and cash flow hiccups associated with credit card updates, and the marketer avoids having to request new credit card information from the customer.

That request can become a decision point for the customer—a moment when they weigh whether to continue with their current provider or shop for a new one—according to the AVATAS executive. “You have those customers that when they get that notice saying ‘We’re contacting you to let you know your card has expired,’ they may think about it and wonder, ‘Do I want to update my card, or do I want to price shop?’ It’s a perfect opportunity for them to go out and see what else is available in the space,” Gagnon explained. “But if you update the card automatically, there isn’t that opportunity.” With individual accounts being both lucrative and costly to replace, it pays to avoid decision points like those.

Related Posts