Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SMECO) launched its online bill paying service on February 10. In its first month of operation, over 1,800 customer-members have enrolled in the online bill payment program and over 3,600 payments have been made.
The rate at which customer-members have enrolled in SMECO's online "e-Services" program has been surprising. Susan Hamilton, SMECO's vice president of customer service said, "We knew that many of our customers would take advantage of this service, but we've greatly exceeded our projections for participation."
Customers can go online to view their current bill and past bills. They even receive an e-mail when their new bill is posted online. Hamilton added, "Using the Internet opens up a world of possibilities and new ways for businesses and customers to interact."
SMECO customers log on to www.smeco.coop and use their Visa, MasterCard, or checking account to make payments. Automatically recurring payments from checking and savings accounts can also be set up to save time and effort. By the end of March, customers will be able to set up automatically recurring payments with their Visa or MasterCard. When reviewing their bills or making payments, customer-members can also view the Cooperative Review monthly newsletter.