Client challenge
In Africa, STS prepaid meters (for electricity, and increasingly for water and gas) currently require users to manually enter a long recharge code often around 20 digits on the meter’s physical keypad. This step leads to frequent data entry errors, particularly for users who are not comfortable with this type of interface, resulting in invalid top-ups, calls to customer service, and frustration among households when trying to access an essential service. Furthermore, each type of meter (water, gas, electricity) follows a distinct top-up process, with no continuity of experience across utility types, which complicates matters for households that must manage multiple prepaid meters simultaneously. The service provider, for its part, lacks visibility into failed top-ups and the actual causes of service interruptions resulting from these errors.
Solution delivered
Strat & IoT has developed a QR code-based payment system, affixed directly to each meter, that replaces manual data entry with a simple scan using a smartphone. The user scans the QR code, accesses a unified payment interface, and confirms payment without ever having to manually enter a code. The solution is designed to be scalable to multiple types of meters (water, gas, electricity), with a unique identifier for each meter that will eventually allow for a single payment process across different utilities within the same household, rather than separate apps or procedures.
Technologies used
- IoT gateways, cloud and A unique QR code generated and affixed to each meter, linked to its STS identifier
- Mobile app or lightweight web interface for scanning and topping up
- Mobile money payment gateway, integrated into the top-up process
- Multi-utility back-office platform, centralizing water, gas, and electricity meter IDs
- Interoperability API with the management systems of DSOs/DISCOMs and water/gas utilities
- Consolidated top-up history, usable for tracking consumption and paymentsalytics, mobile workflows, digital twin
Results achieved
- Significant reduction in data entry errors and invalid top-ups resulting from incorrect manual entry
- Shorter top-up times, without the need to go through an agent or a physical point of sale
- Decrease in customer service calls related to failed top-ups
- Consolidated visibility into successful and failed top-ups and their breakdown by meter type
- A foundational technical platform for the gradual expansion from electricity to water and gas
ROI & Business Impact
- For users: simpler, faster, and more reliable billing, with the eventual goal of a single point of contact for all their prepaid meters (water, gas, electricity)
- For the operator: reduced customer support costs, more reliable transactions, and consolidated data on recharge usage, which is useful for business management
- For the multi-utility sector: a common technical foundation, ultimately facilitating the convergence of prepaid services among electricity, water, and gas providers