Visa to pilot request to pay bill management platform in UK. „Gone are the days of needing to manage multiple payments to different billers across separate accounts and logins.” – the company says.

UK consumers may soon benefit from a new and more flexible way of managing their regular household bills thanks to a new solution from Visa, „which has the potential to encourage one of the biggest shifts in how consumers pay for their utilities, mobile phone contracts or streaming services in recent times”, according to the press release.

Visa is working with partners, including digital billing specialist Revive Management and Crisis, the national charity for people experiencing homelessness, to launch a pilot that is aiming to bring together some of the UK’s leading utility, retail, financial services and telecoms companies, as well as charities.

„The pilot will see the rollout of a solution based on Visa’s request to pay technology. The new request to pay platform will offer consumers greater control, flexibility and simplicity around how they manage their bills by providing various options, including the ability to alter the payment date, split bills with others, separate payments into smaller sums, forward bills to someone else or communicate directly with the biller, all without having to change the way they currently choose to pay their bills,” Visa explains.

Visa is collaborating with a range of industry participants to help establish request to pay standards in the UK, including Pay.UK which operates the UK’s retail payments systems. Visa played a role in facilitating the first request to pay message sent and received using Pay.UK’s standards in November 2019.

Acting as a consolidated inbox itemising regular bill payments, Visa’s new platform provides a transparent view across all of a user’s upcoming and recurring payments to different billers. It starts with the biller sending a request for payment to the consumer, who can agree to pay in part or in full at a time of their choosing. Alternatively, they can query the payment, request an extension, organise a payment plan, or decline the payment through the communication function.

The communication function within the platform enables a direct conversation between consumers and the company issuing their bill, saving the need to go through traditional customer services channels to ask questions or raise issues.

These capabilities remove layers of complexity and streamline the payment process for bill payers, without sacrificing their security. In addition, the platform has scope to support payments through several means including via debit and credit cards, or account-to-account.

Mark Nelsen, Senior Vice President, Product, Europe, Visa, commented: “Most people have a long list of regular payments to keep on top of – from gas, electricity or water bills, to mobile phones, streaming services and recurring deliveries. At the same time, a growing number of subscription services are gaining in popularity. Our new request to pay service consolidates these bills into one, easy-to-use platform, allowing consumers to pay in a way that suits them. Gone are the days of needing to manage multiple payments to different billers across separate accounts and logins.

“At a time when many people are experiencing rising household bills, our solution hands back control to those who most need simplicity and flexibility in how they settle their payments. What’s more, the platform gives customers the confidence that the bills they receive are legitimate, and in doing so plays a key role in reducing the risk of becoming a victim of fraud.”

Pilot partner Revive Management offers a cloud-based communications platform that is used by businesses providing services to more than 70% of the UK population. Revive Management’s participation in the pilot should see a number of its utility partners offering their customers the ability to make bill payments through Visa’s request to pay service from March 2022.

Geoff Boudin, Executive Director, Revive Management, commented: “As one of the UK’s leading digital billing specialists, our core business is taking the stress out of paying bills and making the payment process as seamless and flexible as possible – both for the consumer and the biller. We truly believe request to pay can help revolutionise the way people pay their bills, which is why we’re so excited about our partnership with Visa.”

UK charity Crisis supports people out of homelessness through education, training, and social support. The charity’s involvement in Visa’s pilot demonstrates the range of different use cases that the platform can support, from managing regular bill payments to enabling charity donations.

Richard Lee, Director of Fundraising, Crisis, commented: “At Crisis, we know that financial pressures can be a big factor that can force people into homelessness. This pilot offers a great opportunity for consumers to manage their bills in a simple way and try to reduce some of this pressure. Also, for people who are in a position to do so, the pilot will help to manage any donations to charity they may be considering.”