Equifax UK Debuts Tariff Connect for Utility and Telecom Providers

Equifax UK has introduced a customer onboarding solution for utility and telecom firms.

As Fintech Finance News reported Thursday (Nov. 7), the new tool, called Tariff Connect, is designed to help these providers automate customer eligibility assessments for social tariff discounts, which are reduced rates for people receiving certain benefits.

“The economic backdrop may have improved but beneath the surface cost of living pressures remain high and domestic bills will be a particular concern for many,” said Craig Tebbutt, chief strategy and innovation officer at Equifax UK.

“With nearly 6.4 million people in the U.K. relying on Universal Credit, the need for accessible social tariffs is greater than ever. Customers currently have to fill in paperwork and send postal evidence to prove their eligibility for bill discounts and payment holidays, which can be both confusing and time-consuming.”

According to the report, the solution uses a digital application form and open banking technology to assess eligibility automatically, eliminating the need for manual documentation and reducing the current timeline from weeks to minutes.

It also allows companies to routinely check eligibility at regular intervals to understand changes in consumer circumstances and continue to support financially vulnerable consumers.

Equifax’s use of open banking comes as the technology becomes more and more prevalent, as noted here last month.

In an interview for PYMNTS “What’s Next in Payments” series on “embedded everything,” Tribh Grewal, head of FinTech partnerships at Discover® Global Network, noted that embedded finance works to meet consumers’ financial and payment needs at the points of various interactions. Consumers have become wary of challenges with transactions, or when authentication just stops a payment completely.

He added that – on a more technical level – embedded finance revolves around how data-sharing and open banking are delivered to consumers, while open banking is where that data is shared.

“It’s not just your payment data or banking data, but the data about you so that new use cases can be developed,” PYMNTS wrote.

Those use cases will be crucial in financial services, Grewal said, pointing out that the consumer desire for new experiences is seeing an uptick.

“The age of eCommerce and rideshare has embedded payments into the background, and the technology, through APIs, is in place to deliver those programming interfaces and integrate various services,” that report added.