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The payments processor Paya Holdings Inc. on Monday announced UtilityConnect, an initiative aimed at deepening the Atlanta-based company’s involvement in processing for governments, municipal entities, and private utilities.
The new portal, which features a redesigned user interface, features new services aimed at easing citizen payments to local governments, including settings for language spoken, notifications regarding late payments or leak detections, and a smoother enrollment for autopay, Paya says. The new platform also allows utility companies to send notices to an entire list or a subset of users via email, SMS, or phone.
The new features follow efforts by Paya to drive deeper into the municipal market for payments. This market currently accounts for about 10% of the company’s revenue from card, check, and automated clearing house payments, a lesser share than from Paya’s nonprofit and health-care markets. Paya recorded $72.5 million in revenue in the second quarter.
Paya says it processes more than $1 billion annually for more than 2,000 government entities. Its payments volume from all markets totaled $12.3 billion in the second quarter, with $5.2 billion of that volume deriving from ACH traffic.
“Our goal is to continue providing tools that improve the relationships and engagement between municipalities and their citizens, make it easier for individuals to manage and pay bills, and improve efficiency for our municipal customers,” says Ben Weiner, executive vice president of B2B and government at Paya, in a statement.
Paya, which went public last year as the result of a merger with a special-purpose acquisition company, has been an acquisitive processor. Recent deals include those for Paragon Payment Systems and The Payment Group.
