Five Ways to Improve Time to Payment in the Tolling Industry 

The tolling industry is a critical component of our transportation infrastructure, enabling fee collection from drivers using roadways, bridges and tunnels—which in turn provides congestion relief and a sustainable funding source for roadway maintenance and improvements. Like most industries, tolling had to adapt quickly to changes caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, most roadway operators have moved (or are in the process of moving to) an all-electronic tolling (AET) collection model.

The conversion from physical collection booths to AET (or license plate-based charging) has made it more expensive and difficult for operators to collect revenue. In fact, the tolling industry faces a significant revenue leakage problem, with estimates suggesting that U.S. toll authorities are unable to collect at least $2.24 billion annually due to various breakdowns in the collection process.

As anyone who’s been stuck in traffic knows, time is money. That’s why modernizing collection practices and payment systems to include convenient digital collection methods can help ensure drivers pay on time. By reducing the amount of time it takes to identify, bill and collect payments, toll operators can achieve significant operational efficiencies and increased customer satisfaction.

Today’s consumers expect digital, automated, seamless billing process from all their service providers—including toll road operators. Deloitte determined that “it’s easier to attract customers by making payment as seamless and accurate as possible. More options for paying tolls can reduce reliance on toll by plate and its related paper bills.”

TOLLING INDUSTRY CHALLENGES

Tolling industry leaders face several challenges as they navigate a rapidly changing landscape. Among the most pressing challenges are:

• Evolving payment preferences: Consumers want choice and flexibility for account management, guaranteed toll payments to agencies and decreased post-pay transactions. But this is complicated to provide without back-office system open APIs that offer third-party payment options.
• Operational efficiencies: The use of digital payments continues to increase through the implementation of cash-payment apps such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, Venmo, and PayPal. In 2023, the use of digital wallets increased by 25% as consumers continue their shift toward more contactless payments.
• Customer satisfaction: Toll operators have the opportunity to implement customer service solutions that use the latest tools such as AI and journey mapping that fits each individual’s needs.
• Technological advancements: To stay competitive, toll operators must keep up with the rapid pace of technological change, such as AI, the internet of things (IoT) and blockchain.
• Lack of customer engagement: Drivers don’t always know or remember they’ve been charged on a toll road. Partnering with a digital payment gateway provides agencies with several ways to engage those customers and make them aware of the charge.
• Delinquent payments: Implementing effective strategies to track, notify and recover delinquent accounts is crucial to minimizing revenue leakage and maintaining cash flow.

While the challenges may seem formidable, they’re not insurmountable. There are several approaches toll operators can take to not just meet these hurdles but overcome them and even use the process to generate revenue. Here are five ways toll operators can evolve with the changing times:

1. ENHANCE THE PAYMENT PROCESS

Timely payments are more likely to arrive following a positive customer experience (CX). To ensure positive CX and encourage prompt payment, creating an uncomplicated customer journey is crucial. How can you do that? By offering:

Understandable billing: Reduce confusion by issuing toll violations and statements that are straightforward and clear. Detail charges, clarify fees and present definite payment deadlines.

Payment method options: Accommodate different driver preferences by offering several ways to pay, including cash, credit cards, ACH and digital wallets.

Accessible customer support: Offer immediate and effective support channels for drivers, such as toll-free calls, web-based chat services and physical assistance at toll booths, with agents trained to handle toll issues swiftly and competently.

Multiple contact avenues: Engage drivers on different platforms, through emails, SMS messages and notifications within apps, supplemented by traditional printed messages. Effective, individualized communication can foster trust and encourage drivers to manage their services autonomously.

2. IMPROVE DATA-DRIVEN STRATEGIES

Analyzing the data you collect can help you recognize payment patterns. Understanding patterns can help to detect regularities and trends. It can also help your company identify the busiest times for payments and locate frequent payment challenges.

Data analysis also allows you to customize communications with customers. By adjusting your communication based on customer activity, you can dispatch prompt reminders via a driver’s preferred channel to accounts with past-due payments. You can also propose rewards for early settlements and for creating an account.

Deep data dives can help define proper pricing and potential discounts. Employing data analysis can help you to assess the impact of your pricing and discount policies, adjust your strategies to increase income and boost payment efficiency. Utilizing data analytics can also help toll operators understand payment patterns and identify bottlenecks. This integration can provide real-time data processing and accurate accounting, reducing errors and increasing revenue collection.

By analyzing transaction data, operators can make informed decisions on how to optimize payment systems and improve cash flow. Advanced analytics can also predict peak times and adjust toll rates dynamically to manage traffic and encourage timely payments.

3. INCREASE PAYMENT ADHERENCE

Offering a variety of payment methods across channels can help your organization cater to the preferences of different users. This flexibility can lead to quicker payments, as customers can choose the most convenient option for them. Additionally, offering incentives for using certain payment methods, such as switching from paper to digital billing or credit card to ACH, can encourage faster and less expensive processing. A few innovative ways tolling authorities can increase collections and driver engagement include:

• Advanced fraud detection: Use sophisticated tools to proactively detect and stop fraud, ensuring protection of earnings and customer information.
• Payment plan options: Provide installment options for financially strained customers to avoid defaults and preserve customer loyalty.
• Process automation: Employ automation for regular collection processes to minimize mistakes and increase productivity with automated reminders and notices.

4. CULTIVATE POSITIVE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCES

Clear and effective communication with customers about payment deadlines and procedures can prevent delays. Toll operators should invest in customer engagement solutions that provide timely reminders and easy-to-understand instructions. Proactive communication can also help resolve disputes and answer queries, leading to quicker resolution and payment.

Encouraging trust and allegiance is fundamental for ensuring prompt payment. Happy customers tend to meet payment deadlines.

• Clear communication: Ensure transparency by providing precise, up-to-date details on toll prices, payment methods and account updates. Keep lines of communication open to quickly resolve any driver issues or questions.
• Outstanding customer support: Create dedicated support avenues for drivers, including toll-free numbers and live online assistance, to help with account management, billing inquiries and settling disputes.
• Enhanced driver benefits: Improve the driving experience by introducing supplementary offerings like live traffic reports, updates on incidents or reduced rates for tolls for regular customers.

5. ENHANCE OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY

You can also help boost payment speed by streamlining operations. Removing obstacles and implementing automation can lead to better efficiencies with processes like:

• Automation: Leverage advanced tolling solutions to automate toll collection processes, reduce manual errors and enhance transaction efficiency.
• Technology adoption: Enhance the payment and reconciliation processes by using tools like AI and autopay to refine workflow.
• Continuous improvement: By consistently evaluating your billing methods and pinpointing ways to adopt these strategies, toll operators can improve time to payment.

LET CSG HELP YOU GET PAID FASTER

It’s not always easy to know where to start. That’s why CSG is here. We can help introduce industry-proven technologies that have the potential to streamline payments and collection processes. In fact, for one large tolling customer, CSG helped develop and deploy an innovative system that allows drivers to pay their toll via QR code and SMS link, which decreased average time to pay by 18%. Additionally, within nine months of implementation, the two new payment method offerings comprised 14% of total payments out of eight total payment methods.

CSG helped this major tolling operator provide a convenient, digital alternative payment channels for non-account holders. By printing QR codes on mailed statements that directed drivers to a payment microsite, CSG created an easy-to-navigate portal where drivers could input their payment information, opt in for future SMS messages and sign up for an account with the tolling provider. Drivers can also opt into paperless billing and SMS reminders, as well as added payment tokenization and autopay features to make the payment process easier and faster. CSG’s solution resulted in more than 100,000 drivers opting in for SMS messages, increased customer satisfaction and reduced printing and mailing costs for the partner company.