Stable payment services trusted by comprehensive energy companies aiming to realize a decarbonized society

Evergreen Marketing Co., Ltd. and Evergreen Retailing Co., Ltd., which aim to realize a decarbonized society, provide electricity using renewable energy. The company's payment partner in electricity sales is GMO Payment Gateway, Inc. (hereinafter referred to as GMO-PG). We will unravel the appeal of payment processing services, which is trusted by integrated energy companies, from the voices of the person in charge. (Company name and position as of April 2023 unless otherwise noted)

Electricity sales business handled by a general energy company

Evergreen Marketing Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "EGM") provides high-voltage electricity for corporations
Evergreen Retailing Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as EGR), which provides low-voltage electricity for individuals,
We have adopted Multi-Billing Package, which is ideal for collecting regular usage fees for electricity, gas, water, telecommunications, etc.

EGM and EGR are joint venture companies established by Elex Corporation (hereinafter referred to as "Elex") and Tokyo Electric Power Company Energy Partner Co., Ltd.

Elex has been in the electric power business since the beginning of electricity liberalization in 2000.
A major feature is that we are consistently involved in everything from fuel procurement to power generation and electricity sales.
In 2013, we opened the Tosa Power Plant in Kochi as a biomass power plant, and are actively promoting biomass power generation projects using PKS (palm palm shells) and wood pellets as fuel.

Exploring new payment method ahead of low-voltage power supply

Electricity liberalization to ordinary households started in 2016.

At that time, Elex, which had already Actual in the field of special high-voltage and high-voltage power for corporations, had issues with developing new customer segments and surrounding payment before entering the retail market of low-voltage electricity.

"Elex has been selling electricity to corporations since 2000, but it was only Account transfer handled by storage agencies.
In targeting general customers, within the company,
Do not handle account information in-house,
In addition, there was a request that we did not want to have card information when introducing Credit card payment."
Mr. Takasuke Kitakoji, Business Solutions Manager of the Information Systems Department of Elex, who has been instrumental in building a business model for electricity retailing, says.

Takayoshi Kitakoji

Elex began comparing payment services with multiple companies around 2014 before entering the market for general households. Mr. Kitakoji himself collected information, and the candidates were narrowed down to four companies, mainly those with payment-related transactions in the company. Among them, GMO-PG, which did not have Actual at the time, was adopted.

We asked you why you chose GMO-PG.
"In the consideration stage, it was important that the information could be stored externally without retaining it in-house, and that it could be linked through APIs.
In the end, we focused on ease of system integration.
At that time, I had the impression that it would be difficult to use other companies in the future, such as not having a system that met the required requirements, limited payment method that could be handled, difficulty in cooperation, and long lead times when trying to launch a service.
The payment system proposed by GMO-PG was one that could be linked with a short lead time," says Kitakoji.

Attractive to the ease of CIS integration and the advantages unique to payment processing company company

At the time of the repeated proposals, GMO-PG was in the process of building packages for electricity, gas, water, and telecommunications carriers. We continued to have dialogues from the time when we were not in shape, and the accumulation of these things led to the current Multi-Billing Package.

"At that time, based on Elex's request, we were making proposals while reflecting them in the construction of Multi-Billing Package" (GMO-PG Takashi Kuwabara)

"The compatibility with the CIS * that we used was also a point. We have repeatedly considered other companies, but in conclusion,
I think we were able to achieve what we were looking for only in Multi-Billing Package."

This is also the first case of GMO-PG in the field of electricity.

*CIS (Customer Information System): A system that manages customer information and manages electricity bill calculation, billing, and collection.

For Toshimasa Sone, the general manager of the business department at the time, who was instrumental in launching electricity sales for ordinary households, the benefits of using a payment processing company company were also great.

"I remember that at that time, there were still few cases of using payment processing company vendors in the utility charge field.
In the conventional direct contract with acquirer, Account transfer had to talk to various bank associations and Credit card payment to each card company.
I realized that it is really convenient for GMO-PG to promote it all together."

Toshimasa Sone

Multi-Billing Package was born as a package specializing in recurring payment in utility charge such as electricity, gas, and water. Multi-Billing Package allows you to introduce three types of payment method at once: Account transfer, Credit card payment, and Payment via Payment Slip. Currently, it is widely used by businesses in the electric power and infrastructure fields.

Evaluation of stable operation without accidents from the start

In 2019 and 2020, EGM and EGR companies were foundedwith the investment of Elex and TEPCO Energy Partners.Elex's electricity sales for corporations and individuals will be taken over by both companies.

Mr. Tsuyoshi Kawahara, who currently leads the operation department at both companies, is Mr. Tsuyoshi Kawahara, who is in charge of business department Manager
"There have been no accidents so far, and we have never dealt with customer problems related to GMO-PG," he said.

"It took a considerable amount of time to get it up and running, but once it was completed, I realized that it was a good system.
Since its launch, the impact of the revision of the Installment Sales Act has been significant, but with the advice of GMO-PG, we were able to overcome PCI DSS compliance."

It is said that the stable operation is also helped by the detailed support provided by GMO-PG.
"If there is something that our staff is not sure about, such as the timing of credit card account update, we call the sales staff of GMO-PG.
By receiving materials with detailed content and sharing them within the company, the customer center staff will understand and convey them firmly to customers. Things such as debit errors and data flow have been kindly explained to Mr. Kuwabara and other previous sales representatives, which has been helpful."

Tsuyoshi Kawahara

Added new payment method in response to growing user needs

What I felt was a major milestone was the addition of a new QR/code payment within the Elex Group.
" Multi-Billing Package was stable,
The demand for QR/code payment is increasing, and we decided to add a QR/code payment with payment each time we were reminded. After the addition, there was more payment than expected, and I feel the possibility of QR/code payment.
The response is that it was good to introduce it within the company," says Mr. Kawahara, who promoted it.

He is also satisfied with the speed at which he realized the operation in about 2 or 3 weeks from the time of application.
"We are not the type to jump on new things, but if you consult with GMO-PG after deciding to do it payment payment, the speed to start is fast.

Mr. Sone and Mr. Kawahara

What GMO-PG can help you do to realize a decarbonized society

Electricity supply from renewable energy is expected to expand in the future. As a leading biomass power generation company, the Actual of both companies is progressing well.

"For us, The GMO-PG payment system is now used as a matter of course.
I think the level of service is satisfactory."

"Nothing happens and it is operating stably, and there are many issues that may arise in the future that can be solved with PG Multi-Payment Service," says Kitakoji.

Mr. Kawahara and Mr. Kitakoji

Takashi Kuwahara, who is in charge of both companies at GMO-PG, continues to propose useful solutions while receiving these positive reviews.

"We are really happy that you have been using our services for a long time and are satisfied.
In addition to providing stable systems, GMO-PG's strength is that we have a sales team specializing in infrastructure areas such as electricity and gas.
Currently, we are proposing a GMO digital billing service that uses SMS messages in billing guidance, which is effective in preventing non-collection. utility charge If we can reduce the receivables that are an issue for the field as much as possible.
In addition to payment, we are also working on marketing measures such as site construction and advertising to improve Evergreen brand awareness.
We will continue to make better proposals as an innovation partner to address various issues."

GMO-PG Takashi Kuwahara

The Elex Group, which owns EGM and EGR, aims to realize a decarbonized society through fuel generation, sales, and trading businesses at its domestic and overseas bases. In addition to the biomass power generation business in Japan, the company is focusing on fuel development projects overseas and power generation using renewable energy sources such as solar and hydropower. In terms of sales, we are actively expanding CO2-free plans specializing in renewable energy, and continue to propose both environmental value and economic efficiency.

The Elex Group aims to be a pioneer in a new era of electric power with renewable energy at its core. GMO-PG will continue to accompany you as a partner for a green future.

Evergreen Marketing Inc. Evergreen Retailing Inc. Established with joint investment from Elex Corporation and Tokyo Electric Power Company Energy Partner Co., Ltd. to realize a decarbonized society. Evergreen Marketing supplies special high-voltage and high-voltage power for corporations, while Evergreen Retailing provides low-voltage electricity to individual customers. The Elex Group, which includes both companies, is actively promoting green power supply using renewable energy, with a focus on biomass power generation. https://www.egmkt.co.jp/