Power is very important in our everyday lives. And as expected, users need to pay their utility bills to access it.
But, faced with the hustle-bustle of our schedules, it’s not always easy to get to the nearest distribution company (Disco) office to pay said bills and buy electricity tokens.
Not only is the schedule a discouragement, the thought of having to stand in line for hours to get it done isn’t appealing either. And for prepaid meter users, recharging on a weekend also poses another mountain of worries since these offices don’t necessarily work on weekends.
But thanks to startups like BuyPower, the process of electricity bill payments has been digitised.
Founded in 2016, BuyPower makes the utility payment experience very seamless. Using its website or mobile app, prepaid/postpaid meter users can easily recharge their meters and pay their bills from any location.
First time users will need to undergo a one-time registration process. Once this is done, they can log in to their account to recharge. To recharge, users will need to enter their meter number, input the desired amount and make the payment via their debit cards or a bank transfer.
For prepaid meters, a user will receive an electricity token which is loaded on their meter to get power. Postpaid meter owners get payment receipts.
According to BuyPower, this payment receipt can be tendered anywhere a utility bill is requested.
BuyPower is not the only player in this space. Some other platforms offer this service as well as banks. But BuyPower prides itself as more reliable than these other players as a result of its “modern backend system.”
One of the problems BuyPower is addressing at its core is building a modern backend system for the utilities. This is very critical because the existing technology for some Utilities was built on legacy systems which limits the amount of traffic and stress they can handle. This is why most times, customers experience endless network downtimes at payment centres.
BuyPower
The startup also has a partnership with instant loan provider Kwikmoney to provide users with credit facilities to pay their bills. This, according to the startup, has helped it offer more convenient access to credit for its users.
And this seems to be paying off as the startup says it controls over 50% market share in all of the markets it operates in.
“We own upwards of 50% market share and this continues to grow aggressively as we’ve seen a surge in referrals evidenced by the great reviews that continue to pour in everyday,” Says BuyPower.
This might not be far from the truth as the app has been downloaded over 50,000 time on Google Playstore with about 1600 reviews at an average rating of 4.5. A brief check of the latest review page also comprised of positive reviews bar a few complaints that were already responded to by the team.
Currentlly, of the 11 licensed Discos in the country, BuyPower is integrated with 8 of them, with plans to get the other 3 onboard.
So if you happen to be under Yola Distribution Company, Kano Distribuion Company and Benin Distribution Company you might have to opt for another choice as BuyPower doesn’t cover your area just yet.
But if you are under Abuja Distribution Company (AEDC), Jos Distribution Company (JED), Kaduna Electric Disribution Company (KAEDCO), Ikeja Distribution Company (IKEDC), Eko Distribution Company (EKEDC), Ibadan Distribution Company (IBEDC), Enugu Distribution Company (EEDC) and Port-Hrcourt Distribution Company (PHEDC), you can use BuyPower to get your electricity bills paid.
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