Banks make bill paying easy
Banks make bill paying easy
Bill payments via the banking system have now become the trend due to the rapid growth of services provided by public and private banks in Laos.
Many enterprises, leasing companies and state-owned businesses have agreed to cooperate with banks to provide electronic payment services.
Banque pour le Commerce Exterieur Lao Public (BCEL) is the main bank in Laos offering automatic payment services for electricity, water and Lao digital TV bills among others.
BCEL recently teamed up with AEON Leasing Service (Lao) Company Limited to provide repayment services on the bank's Autopay system.
The automatic payment system will involve the bank making deductions from the accounts of customers in accordance with the payment terms specified.
Automatic payment will save customers time and protect them from interest charges for late payment.
The holders of BCEL accounts can instruct the bank to open an automatic debit from their accounts to repay AEON every month without having to pay at AEON counters.
A senior marketing officer at BCEL said recently the bank offers a variety of payment services together with cooperation with a number of private and public companies in Laos.
“BCEL may be the first bank in Laos to offer such modern services as it tries to upgrade to provide better service for customers and meet the demand for regional and international standards,” she said.
She added that some other state-owned banks also provide this kind of automatic payment service for electricity and water bills, but BCEL is constantly increasing the number of options.
Customers of the Lao Development Bank (LDB) can now pay their water and electricity bills via the bank after the service was launched recently.
Bill payments can be made via mobile banking or at ATMs and the service units that are available nationwide.
Managing Director of ACLEDA Bank (Lao) Limited, Mr Narin Phon, said his bank does not yet offer this type of service but it is included in their plans.
“We are working on installing an automatic payment programme which can be used later this year but the system is not working so well. We intend to upgrade it by next year,” he said.
Mr Phon said the full range of services can be offered by next year when the bank has successfully improved the bill payment system for electricity and water supply.
In the future many banks in Laos will include electronic payment systems with the aim of providing customers with a better and more easily accessed payment service.
vientiane times
