Overcoming prepaid meter challenges in the utilities industry (2024)

Being in the utilities industry, you’ll have noticed the rise of prepaid meters and their benefits for both companies and consumers.

More and more residential and commercial consumers are shifting away from traditional postpaid metering to prepaid metering. This even includes the national order to move all Eskom and Municipal electricity metering to prepaid.

There are several reasons behind this booming trend, such as reduced electricity theft and improved revenue collection, among other benefits. As convincing as that sounds, like any other transitional shift, there are risks and challenges you might face, such as fraud, meter tampering, and customer mismanagement.

The question is, how will you adapt to it in order to run a successful utility business?

Let’s explore how you can overcome these prepaid meter challenges within the utility sector.

Also read: Analysing the ISP industry and what it takes to stay competitive (2024)

A quick look at the prepaid meter challenges faced by the utility industry

The need for prepaid meters isn’t slowing down and is expected to continue its stable growth trajectory at a minimum annual growth rate of 6.5% or more until 2027. With the South African prepaid metering market sitting at 10 million users already — the demand is clear.

Now, what exactly are these prepaid meter challenges? We will detail some of the most impactful setbacks and how they affect the energy and utilities industry.

Frequent top-ups

Consumers paying for their utilities, such as electricity or gas, means they’re responsible for topping up whenever necessary. This means that consumers have to purchase their utilities on a pay-as-you-go basis.

While this is a great benefit for landlords or body corporates in the Real Estate  industry, it can be a setback in the utility market. Many South Africans still buy prepaid electricity from retail food stores like Checkers, Spar, and Pick ‘n Pay, as well as local petrol stations.

So despite being able to purchase it online from their banking app, many have to frequently top up at a local supermarket which is inconvenient, especially when it’s cold. It can also be a safety concern as most people carry cash when going to supermarkets.

Meter tampering

According to a 2022 World Bank Group study, 86.5% of South Africans have access to electricity – yet, much of this access is not ethical or even legal. Besides illegal power connections, prepaid electricity meter tampering is on the rise. Eskom and municipalities lose about R25 billion in revenue every year due to electricity meter tampering.

Tampering with energy meters has severe negative effects on a utility company — and its customers. This type of electricity theft overloads the generation unit, causing the quality of the electricity supply to falter.

Furthermore, the utility company has no estimate about the quantity of electricity to be supplied to genuine customers as well as illegal consumers, resulting in over voltage and even damage to appliances.

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How to overcome these prepaid meter challenges

Now that we’ve listed all the challenges, it’s time to evaluate the solutions.

Solving frequent top-ups with seamless top-up solutions

Offering your customers a way to top-up their prepaid meters through an online payment is easily the most effective solution to the frequent top-up dilemma. Not only can they make these payments from the convenience of their home, but it’s also instant, saving them lots of petrol and time.

With an innovative payment gateway, you’ll be able to accept payments online through multiple ways, including subscriptions, shareable payment requests, retail payments, and more.

It’s an all-in-one solution for businesses of all sizes, and the software can effortlessly integrate with your website. So, you can inform your clients that they are able to make top-ups directly through your website using the payment method they prefer..

Solving meter tampering with smart meter integration

Smart meters are digital devices that measure and record electricity, gas, or water consumption in real time — then report these key findings to utility companies. They measure things like voltage levels, electric energy, power factor, and current.

Smart meters are quickly becoming a significant tool in modern energy management. They help combat meter tampering since now these numbers can’t be altered. Netcash offers software integrations with apps or companies that offer smart meter apps as a part of their offering.

Solving customer mismanagement with CRM software

Cloud-based customer relationship management software can be your answer to managing customer data. It allows business owners to easily track all communications and nurture relationships. These systems facilitate team communication, integrate with social media, provide insights, and help with sales management.

ICS Flow is an excellent software partner that offers an End-to-End Contact Center Solution for customer services, sales, and debt collection. Their cloud-based software also offers CRM, Workflow, VOIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), and Communications, among other services.

This is an ideal system for utility companies to start seamlessly managing their customers. Furthermore, it can improve customer experience, retention, and loyalty. They also provide sales forecasting, which is essential for setting targets and making well-informed decisions.

Solving data mismanagement with meter data management systems

Invest in a   to solve this dilemma for your utility business. An MDMS supports internal utility needs by cleansing, calculating, and providing insightful data. This meter data can be used to support billing, detect tampering, theft, or leakage, and track consumption, among other things.

In short, this system verifies, imports, edits, and processes meter data for you so that it’s easier to make concise and informed decisions going forward.

Solving incorrect cash handling with accounting software

If you want to fix human error, fraud, mismanagement, and other setbacks regarding cash flow, innovating accounting software is your solution. This type of software can track and report your business’s day-to-day financial transactions and accounts. It also performs real-time accounting, managing expenses, revenue, accounts receivable, fixed assets, and sub-ledgers.

Accounting software integration through various solutions, including Xero and Acumatica, are exceptional examples. Once you’ve integrated your website with one of our accounting software partners, your cash flow will run more smoothly, and setbacks like human error or inside fraud can be eliminated.

Prepaid metering in the utilities sector wrapped up

No matter the industry you’re in, there’s always room for improvement. As you can see, there’s a solution for these setbacks, whether it’s meter tampering or customer mismanagement.

Our solutions mentioned above can help manage your business’ data for better decision-making and improve customer experience. They can also lower the chances of prepaid meter tampering, theft, and accounting mishaps or fraud.

Whether you’re operating at a large or small scale, there will always be a few bumps in the road. That said, conquering this latest utility industry trend can set you up for long-term success. And with these smart solutions offered by Netcash, you’re one step closer to that goal.

Contact us to learn more about these solutions.