To ease the pain of long lines in the few days before cut-off period, the Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) Co. piloted the Pay Express Van in Cebu to make paying bills more convenient for customers.
This newest innovation from PLDT can augment a payment center in Metro Cebu with four to six more cashiers especially in the days leading to the bill due date, said PLDT head of operations for Cebu, Bohol, Samar, and Leyte Elmer “Bong” Lintag.
The Pay Express Van is a mobile truck that will be assigned by schedule to the five Sales and Service Centers (SSCs) located in Metro Cebu, including PLDT Jones, Mabolo, Mandaue, Mactan, and Talisay, he said.
PLDT vice president and Credit and Collection Management Group head Jonel Ladaban said the plan is to assign the payment van to a business center when the due date for customers in that zone draws near. He added that the van, outfitted to accommodate six cashiers, can stay there from three to five days to help collect payments.
Cashiering on Wheels
“This is an initiative under Project COW for Cashiering on Wheels. The idea came from the food trucks that operate in big commercial centers. We looked at those and agreed we can put tellers there instead of sellers,” he said during an interview after the PLDT Pay Express Van launch in Cebu last Wednesday, October 21.
According to Ladaban, the four principles that served to guide PLDT when it came to the payment van were customer safety, speed, comfort, and convenience.
“It’s about the customer having a pleasant experience,” he said, adding they might consider adding more trucks in Cebu if one can’t cope with the transaction traffic. For now, they want to see how the truck fares in Cebu, which is PLDT’s biggest zone in terms of subscriber base, and make improvements according to what they’ve learned before deploying a similar payment system in other key areas like Metro Manila.
The PLDT Pay Express Van gives customers one more choice from several bill payment options, which already include over the counter, online, and third party alternatives like banks, mall payment centers, 7-Eleven stores.
