Utility Bill Payments & Service Fees

Utilities bill every customer every month and have historically relied on ACH and checks. Visa's 2025 rule change lets utilities (MCC 4900) charge a disclosed service fee on card payments, and Roots builds bill-pay portals, IVR and autopay around it.
Talk to an utility payments specialistPartner with Roots

Payment solutions for utilities

How these solutions work for utilities

See what each option adds to the way your business takes and tracks payments.

ACH Payments

For utilities: Offer bank-account payments for utility bills, connection charges and service balances, with authorization and invoice matching built into the workflow.
  • Write compliant authorization language for customers
  • Set up account verification and return monitoring
  • Help you meet Nacha's 2026 fraud-monitoring requirements
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Transfer initiated

$703.70 · ref ACH-7731

Online Bill Pay Portal

For utilities: Give customers an online way to settle utility bills, connection charges and service balances, using account references and outstanding bill balances.
  • Discuss your business goals on a free consultation
  • Coordinate your provider introduction and setup
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Service Fees

For utilities: Present service-fee rules clearly when collecting utility bills, connection charges and service balances, with the fee and payment recorded separately.
  • Confirm your merchant category (including MCC 9311, 9399, 8220, 8249 or 4900) qualifies
  • Check state and local limits on fees
  • Configure fee display and receipts
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Pay-by-Phone (IVR)

For utilities: Let customers pay utility bills, connection charges and service balances through an automated phone flow linked to the correct bill or account.
  • Script call flows and account lookup
  • Integrate with your billing system
  • Monitor call and payment completion
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Unattended Payments

For utilities: Build self-service checkout for utility bills, connection charges and service balances at kiosks, stations or access points that operate without a staffed counter.
  • Specify kiosk hardware and placement
  • Integrate with your account or giving system
  • Monitor devices and support them after launch
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Square Invoices

For utilities: Send itemized invoices for utility bills, connection charges and service balances and track deposits, due dates and outstanding balances.
  • Design invoice templates and custom fields (terms, policies, account numbers) for propane and heating oil dealers
  • Set up recurring schedules and card-on-file or bank-on-file autopay for customers
  • Configure reminders and late-payment workflows
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Recurring Billing

For utilities: Schedule and manage payments for monthly utility bills and scheduled payments, including renewals and customer account balances.
  • Design payment plans (including 10-month or 12-month) for customers
  • Set retry, dunning and late-fee rules
  • Sync recurring payments to your accounting or management system
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Level 2/3 Processing

For utilities: Include purchase-order references and itemized invoice data for business-card purchases of utility bills, connection charges and service balances.
  • Analyze statements to find commercial-card downgrades
  • Configure the gateway or ERP to populate enhanced data accurately
  • Monitor CEDP qualification and fix data-quality errors
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Text to Pay

For utilities: Send a payment request for utility bills, connection charges and service balances by text so customers can pay against a specific order or invoice.
  • Write text templates and reminder schedules
  • Set up consent and opt-out handling
  • Connect payments to your billing system
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Custom Payment Integration

For utilities: Connect the payment flow for utility bills, connection charges and service balances with your software and the operational records behind customer accounts, meter references and bill balances.
  • Map how payments should post in your system
  • Build, test and host the integration
  • Support and maintain it as systems change
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Mobile Payments

For utilities: Collect payments for utility bills, connection charges and service balances away from a fixed counter, with transactions recorded against the sale or job.
  • Choose devices for your drivers, reps or volunteers
  • Set up user logins and permissions per device
  • Train field staff
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Credit Card Surcharging

For utilities: Plan credit-card surcharge disclosures for utility bills, connection charges and service balances, keeping eligible card payments distinct at checkout.
  • Check your state's surcharge rules and complete card-network registration where required
  • Configure terminals, invoices and online checkout
  • Write the disclosure language for customers
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Utilities we set up and support

Utilities payment questions

Start with the workflows your business needs. Options on this page include Service Fee Programs for Gas Utilities, Online Bill Pay Portal for Gas Utilities, Pay-by-Phone IVR for Gas Utilities. Roots helps compare the setup, software and processing requirements around how you operate.
Yes. Bring your current POS, checkout or billing tools and recent processing statements. We review invoices, registration payments, recurring collections and reconciliation, then plan the changes your utilities business needs.
Request a quote for your business. The review covers your payment mix, locations, software, hardware recommendations and implementation work. Consultations and payment reviews are free.
Bring recent payment statements, the systems you use and a record of how a customer places an order, receives a service or pays a bill. Tell us which utilities workflows need to improve so we can scope a practical setup.

Payments for utilities, set up right

Talk to our sales team about your setup, or become a partner and bring us your merchants.
Talk to an utility payments specialistPartner with Roots