Automated balance enquiry and payment solution
In June 2006, Eckoh in association with strategic business partner BT Global Service delivered an automated bill payment solution for leading finance corporation Hitachi Capital Consumer Finance (HCCF).

The automated solution enables HCCF to offer its customers an  extended service for real-time balance enquiries and payment facilities on credit agreements on a no wait, no queue basis. In addition to the these customer service enhancements, the automated payment solution is expected to deliver significant operational efficiencies for HCCF by cutting back on traditional manual transcription costs and allowing staff to focus on more complex, value add calls.

Benefits for Hitachi Capital
• Handling of 35,175 minutes in 1st month of service and 2,120 transactions
• Increased operational efficiency due to elimination of traditional manual transcription costs
• Increased staff satisfaction and ability to focus on more complex calls
• Confident management of traffic peaks
• No requirement for in-house systems/up-front capital investment as solution is handled on Eckoh’s platform
• Ability to track the volume and value of completed payment transactions on a real-time basis
• All payments seamlessly back-ended into BT Buynet’s payment authorisation system

 Benefits for Hitachi Capital Customers
• Ability to make repayments out of normal office hours on a no wait, no queue basis
• Secure, efficient and speedy handling of card payments
• Ability to pay a single instalment or their full outstanding balance
• Real-time access to balance enquiries
• Ability to transfer to an live agent if required

John Prentice, Head of Business Change at Hitachi Capital
“The automated payment solution will be particularly helpful for customers who want  easy access to information on their account and to make payments quickly and efficiently. Partnering with BT and Eckoh furthers our aim to lead the way in providing sophisticated, innovative and practical CRM solutions that give our customers more choice and service flexibility”.

About Hitachi Capital
Hitachi Capital Consumer Finance is the consumer credit division of Hitachi Capital (UK) PLC. It is one of the UK’s longest established finance providers and offers a comprehensive range of finance products for quality retailers. It is the chosen finance partner for many of the UK’s most respected high street names. Hitachi Capital Consumer Finance has been operating in the retail market since 1982 and its growth has been based on long term partnerships. It was one of the first consumer credit providers to offer retailers on-line services with the launch of Creditmaster.

Hitachi Capital (UK) PLC gained a full listing on the London Stock Exchange in 1997 and is part of one of the world’s largest and most respected groups. Through its 5 main business areas: Business Finance, Consumer Finance, Credit Management, Insurance Services and Vehicle Solutions, Hitachi Capital provides a carefully selected range of high quality financial and insurance products that can be tailored to meet the needs of both businesses and personal customers.