Above: Channel partners in training. Photo courtesy bmobile.

bmobile has rolled out an online account management portal called b-online and simultaneously conducted an upgrade of over 80 dealer locations to provide the full suite of services usually available at bmobile retail stores. As a result, nine of the bmobile retail locations have been earmarked for decommissioning, with staff being redeployed to other parts of the company.

Research indicated that 70 percent of transactions in bmobile retail stores were bill payment related so the company has beefed up alternatives for customers to obtain and pay bills, that are more convenient and are underscored by technology.

The company realised that many customers went to its front offices mainly to pay bills because they wanted to make sure that the payment went to their account quickly. Unfortunately, this tended to result in long lines, which customers disliked but endured because they wanted to leave the store with peace of mind. 

To address customer demand for easy and convenient means of doing business, the b-online portal allows customers to sign up and immediately have access to view their bills, view their service usage, view online payment history and make online payments, among other things. This is possible from any Internet-enabled device logged in to the website from anywhere.

Additional features are being developed for the portal to give customers even more control of their services. The online portal initiative further extends customer access to 250 places where bill payments can be facilitated, including online banking, Western Union, Massy stores and VIA.   

The next major improvement was to empower channel partners to do more than just mobile service sales. These channels have been interconnected with some of bmobile’s systems so channel partner stores can offer the full suite of services for both mobile and residential customers, something customers have long been asking for.

Most channel partners have longstanding relationships with bmobile and understand the importance that customers place on the confidentiality of their account information. Having worked closely with channel partners in preparation for this initiative, customers can be assured that their service information will always be kept in strictest confidence.

Payments to all channel partners except the commercial banks, are processed on the same day, and although payments made at banks or their online services can be processed within 24 to 36 hours, bmobile is working to make same day processing a standard for all locations in the future.