CUSTOMERS of the Visayan Electric Company (Veco) can now pay their electric bills anywhere in the country.

Veco said it now has a total of 7,820 third-party agents (TPA) nationwide who will help its clients settle their electric bills with ease.

“We are constantly finding ways to make it easier for our customers to pay for their electric bills. The increasing number of locations of our TPAs is a very welcome development that will help us achieve this goal,” said engineer Mark Anthony Kindica, Veco assistant vice-president for its Customer Service Group.

Since 2008, Veco has been working with TPAs to process bills payments and promote ease of doing business for its more than 422,800 customers within its franchise area.

For those who pay in other locations across the country, Veco said customers only need to make sure they know their account number and how much is due for the period covered.

Veco serves the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Talisay, and Naga as well as four municipalities of Metro Cebu—Liloan, Consolacion, Minglanilla, and San Fernando.

Around 98 percent of Veco customers now pay through TPA partners, which include Bayad Center, Cebuana Lhuillier, M Lhuillier, 2GO, ECPay, SM Hypermarket, SM Department Store, Savemore Market, and SM Business Services.

Branch expansions of these TPA partners, according to Kindica, have expanded the electric utility’s reach for more convenient bills payments services.

One example is Bayad Center’s tie-up with Posible.net, an online platform that seeks to empower micro businesses for digital transactions.

“While we want to partner with more banks, as well as online payment methods, we are keen on looking for more partners for cash payments since more than 50 percent of our customers are unbanked,” Kindica said. (KOC)