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In 2022, we had an amazing group of industry experts join us to talk about what’s new in the world of customer experience. During the year, we discussed a wide range of topics - from the latest and greatest in the payments industry to how the clean energy transition may affect customer experience. In these episodes, our guests shared insight on some trends to look out for in the years to come. For our first episode in 2023, we’ll be sharing some of our guests’ insights and highlighting these trends to look out for in the years to come.   Shaun Jackson, SVP of Marketing at KUBRA will be your host for this episode and will walk you through trends to look out for in the world of customer experience.

Payment experiences have certainly changed over the past few decades. Innovative technology and evolving consumer expectations have transformed how we pay for goods and services. Cash, check, and credit card used to be the go-to payment methods for consumers, but they’re not the norm for most these days.   In this episode of Experience Better, we talk to Ben Murphy, Director of Strategy and Transformation at KUBRA, about what’s new in the world of payments.

Consumers’ use and appetite for digital payments are growing, and with that comes the expectation that they should be able to pay their bills the same way they do other products and services. As digital wallets continue to make their way into the mainstream, demand is expected to rise. In 2022, nearly seven in 10 consumers used a digital wallet, and a significant percentage of these individuals used more than one digital wallet to make payments. More than half of consumers indicated they would consider using digital wallets for bill payments in the future.   In this episode of Experience Better, we talk to Andrew Packer, Senior Manager, Partnerships at PayPal, to tell us about digital wallets, who uses them, and what holds consumers back from using them.

Renewable energy and sustainable practices have become key considerations for consumers who are becoming more aware of their energy consumption and how that impacts climate change. On this episode, Francis Bradley, President and CEO of Electricity Canada, joins us to chat about the energy transition and how that could affect the customer experience for the years to come.

With growing interest from consumers to reduce the amount of water they use, access to personal data and analytics about water usage has quickly become an essential ingredient to providing an exceptional customer experience. In this episode of Experience Better: The CX Podcast, we talk to Robb Barnitt,  Founder of Dropcountr and Vice President, Market Development at KUBRA, as he explains how providing access to water analytics helps customers make better decisions

Payment experiences have certainly changed over the past few years. Cash, check, and credit card used to be the go-to payment methods for consumers, but they’re not the norm for most these days. Innovative technology and changing consumer expectations have transformed how we pay for goods and services. Last month, in the first installment of this two-part episode, Steve Ryan, Principal Product Manager for Payments at KUBRA talked about customer expectations and hot payment trends like the demand for frictionless payment experiences and digital wallets. In this episode, we join Steve again as he discusses artificial intelligence payment channels.

It is no secret that the pandemic is impacting behaviors across the globe. But what type of imprint has it left on the payments space for both billers and their customers?  In this two-part podcast on “the future of payments”, Steve Ryan, Principal Product Manager for Payments at KUBRA, will discuss how COVID-19 has changed customer behaviors and what payment trends they are demanding and expecting

Finding the time and resources to thoroughly understand the customer journey can be difficult, but it has been shown to pay significant dividends to businesses that make the effort. Namely, the better you understand customer expectations, the easier it is to tailor the customer experience to meet their specific needs. In this episode of Experience Better: The CX Podcast, Malina Kaija, Co-Founder of theturnlab, explains how to build a customer-centric business and create customer personas.

In our final installment of Experience Better: The CX Podcast™ for 2021, we share highlights from some of your favorite episodes. We cover everything from the importance of learning about the unique wants of needs of each generation to how business intelligence helps companies optimize performance, predict success, and identify market trends. The episode also explains how bill concierge services benefit businesses and individuals and what Mastercard is doing to drive innovation with its Mastercard BPX solution.

Improving CX doesn’t just happen in a vacuum because there’s no one-size-fits-all answer for what customers prefer or how they behave. You might think you know what is best for customers but how can you truly be sure without going straight to the source? That’s why we are talking with Schmidt Market Research about the role customer research plays in improving customer experiences at top-performing companies. Joining us on the podcast today is Michael Everhart, Vice President, and Rebecca DeFazio, Senior Research Manager at Schmidt Market Research.

Paying bills certainly doesn’t top many people’s list of favorite things to do. At best it’s a hassle– at worst, it’s an extremely stressful exercise. You can take some of the pain away by offering payment solutions that make it as quick and easy for your customers to pay their bills as possible. Digital wallets do just that. They’re a convenient, easy, and secure way to pay, giving customers those truly on-the-go payment experiences they’re looking for. In this episode of Experience Better, we talk to Yara Alatshan, Product Marketing Manager at KUBRA, to tell us all about digital wallets and why consumers prefer to use them.  

Managing and paying bills can be a source of stress for all of us. For the elderly and their caretakers, it can be even more challenging to keep track of all the bills coming in and navigating new payment technologies to pay them. Not to mention, seniors are more vulnerable to fraud and scams. In this episode of Experience Better, we talk to Marci Esrig, Founder, CEO and General Counsel at Silverbills, to understand how concierge services like hers can help this demographic and others better manage their bills, detect fraudulent charges, and protect against overpaying.

While many consumers have embraced digital payment methods, there are still some customers who prefer cash. Who are they, why do they still like cash, and what can utilities do to help these customers? In this episode of Experience Better: The CX Podcast, we speak with Regina Cullado, Customer Service Manager at Golden State Water, to learn more about what they have done to meet the needs of their cash-paying customers.

Paying taxes, parking tickets, and fines for overdue library books is not fun. Having to jump through hoops to make those payments really just adds insult to injury! Pile on the fact that consumers enjoy a wealth of digital payment options for almost all other products or services, you can see why citizen frustration is rising and their satisfaction waning.  In fact, KUBRA research found that citizen payment experiences have remained the same or gotten slightly worse in the last two years. This not only shows that there’s lots of room for improvement, but also that government agencies have a long road ahead to make the citizen payment experience even better. In this episode of  Experience Better, we sit down with Troy Cope, Government Services at KUBRA, to talk about citizens’ payment experiences, how billing and payment trends differ today from 2019, and the effect of COVID-19 on citizens’ behaviors.

Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, and Baby Boomers. We hear about them all the time, but who are they really and what are their customer expectations? In this episode of Experience Better, we sit down with Shaun Jackson, SVP, Marketing at KUBRA, to break down the wants and needs of each generation—including their communication preferences, billing and payment needs, personalization expectations, and willingness to adopt new trends.

Companies have more data at their disposal than ever before. The question is, are they using it to improve the customer experience? This wealth of information can provide organizations with untold insights into customers, as long as they know how to apply it correctly. In this episode, we sit down with Anthony Mancini, Manager, Customer Success at KUBRA to discuss what business intelligence is and how it can improve the customer experience for all organizations.

Competing with Amazon, Netflix, or Zillow isn’t easy, but that’s exactly what government agencies are having to do these days. Sort of. You see, now that citizens are used to receiving exceptional customer experience (CX) from private companies, they expect that kind of service all the time, even from their government agencies. Government agencies are starting to take notice, incorporating CX into their overall mission and devoting resources to improving citizen experiences. In this episode of Experience Better, we sit down with Richard Pickering, National Executive at KUBRA, to discuss why CX should matter to government agencies. 

Pre-pay energy solutions allow utility customers to add money to their utility account before energy is used. As the power is consumed, the pre-paid balance declines. Pre-pay appeals to diverse groups of people for a variety of reasons. In this episode of Experience Better, we interview Lauren Papagalos, Product Marketing Manager at KUBRA, to discuss who primarily benefits from pre-pay and why.

Consumers’ bill pay behaviors have changed drastically and rapidly over the past years, moving away from paper payments to electronic. And bank websites are leading the pack - in fact, 54% of consumers prefer to use their bank website to make bill payments, compared to the 14% of consumers who prefer mailed paper bills, according to the 2020 KUBRA Billing and Payment Report. While this percentage will continue to grow, consumers also expect more improvement and innovation from their bill payment channels, including the bank bill pay. In this episode of Experience Better, we interview Manal Toukan, Senior Vice President, Bill Pay at Mastercard, to tell us about the Mastercard Bill Pay Exchange solution and the innovation and transformation it brings to the bank bill pay. 

KUBRA released a new consumer report that sheds light on what billers are getting right and where there’s room for improvement when it comes to their bills. We’re sharing these findings to give billers a better understanding of current consumer bill preferences. Tune in to our latest episode as we discuss how consumers prefer to receive their utility bills, as well as the most important information to include on your customers’ statements.