Central to expand e-payment service
CENTRAL GROUP has created a bill-payment platform in collaboration with its loyalty programme in preparation for the emerging trends of e-payment, e-wallets and online shopping.
“We have been developing an information-technology system to enable this payment system |for two years, with an initial investment of Bt30 million,” Pichai Chirathivat, executive director |of Central Group, said yesterday.
During this two-year trial-run period, a payment system called “CenPay” was rolled out and now covers 70 per cent of the business units under Central Group’s management.
Using this service, customers can make more than 200 types |of bill payments, including utilities, insurance, Internet fees, credit cards, airline tickets |and mobile-phone top-ups.
Currently, there are 1,659 cashier locations at all Central Group stores: 1,117 Family Mart convenience stores, 199 Central Food Hall and Tops Supermarkets, 22 Central Department Stores, 44 Robinson Department Stores, 96 B2S bookstores, 48 OfficeMate branches, and others.
“We hope to see this service fully rolled out by the end of next year,” Pichai said.
After its soft launch, the service enjoyed positive feedback from customers, the company says. The system handled an average of 300,000 bill payments per month. It expects to see 140 per cent transaction growth in this year, compared to last year’s level.
Next year, the company is planning for CenPay to accept payments for 20 more services, including Easy Pass, Krungsri Auto (Car4Cash), and Government Housing Bank.
Montri Sithiyavanich, executive vice president of Harng Central Department Store, said that to boost public awareness about this bill-payment service, his company had earmarked about Bt20 million for marketing. This would include Bt6 million for advertisements and Bt3 million for promotional campaigns, with the rest allocated for on-ground events and “The 1 Card” loyalty programmes.
“The 1 Card members can redeem their collected points to pay bills via CenPay,” he said.
