ElectricalBossPro Blog — Billing & Payments

When a Card Expires: Letting Electrical Customers Update Their Card Themselves

A card on file is only useful while it works. Cards expire, get lost, get replaced after a fraud alert, or get swapped for a new one when the customer changes banks. When that happens, the next charge does not go through, and a job that should have been paid automatically turns into an open invoice and a phone call.

The Customer App Handles It

The previous guide, Online Payment From the Customer App: Letting Homeowners Pay the Electrician From Their Phone, covered paying invoices in the customer app. The same app is where customers keep their card up to date.

In ElectricalBossPro, customers can update their card themselves in the customer app. The new card replaces the old one on the client, and the next charge at completion or on a schedule uses it.

The Old Way: Phone Tag and Sticky Notes

Without a self-service option, updating a card usually goes something like this:

• A charge is declined, and the office notices a day or a week later.
• The office calls the customer and leaves a voicemail.
• The customer calls back while the office is on another call.
• Eventually someone reads a card number over the phone, and someone else writes it down.

That is a lot of time for both sides, and a card number written on paper is not something any shop should want sitting on a desk.

Meanwhile, the invoice that triggered all of this is sitting open. The work was done, the customer was happy, and the money is still not in. Multiply that by every customer whose card changes in a year, and it adds up to a lot of jobs paid late for no good reason.

The Better Way: A Link to the App

When a customer updates their own card in the customer app, the office never handles the number at all. The process is simple:

• The customer opens the customer app on their phone.
• They enter the new card.
• Future charges use the new card.

If the office needs to prompt the customer, a quick message through two-way texting does it: “Looks like the card we have on file has expired. You can update it in the app any time.” No phone tag, no voicemail, no card numbers on paper.

Open Invoices Get Paid Too

If an invoice is already open because a charge did not go through, the customer can pay it online from the customer app while they are there. Updating the card and paying the open balance can happen in the same visit to the app. For anything that still stays open, past-due follow-up keeps it from being forgotten.

Why This Matters More for Plans

An expired card hurts most on recurring work. A customer on a yearly generator maintenance plan or a yearly safety inspection plan may go a full year between visits. In that time, the card they signed up with may well have expired.

When the next visit comes due on the Waiting List and the tech completes it, the charge needs a working card. Customers who update their card in the customer app keep that visit from turning into a billing problem. Reminders before the visit, such as the night-before alert, are a good moment for customers to open the app anyway. Plan billing is covered in Billing Electrical Maintenance Plans: Yearly Inspections and Generator Service That Bill Themselves.

Small Habits That Help

A few habits keep cards current without much effort:

• Tell customers the option exists. Mention at sign-up that they can update their card in the app any time.
• Prompt by text, not by phone. A short text with a reminder about the app is faster than a call.
• Check open invoices regularly. The reports and the past-due list show which charges need attention.
• Never take card numbers on paper. Point customers to the app instead.

The Card Stays Current, the Office Stays Out of It

An expired card is a small thing that turns into a big hassle when the only fix is a phone call. Letting customers update their card themselves turns it back into a small thing. The customer spends a minute in the app, and the next charge goes through. To see card updates alongside card on file, online payment and the rest of the billing tools, visit the ElectricalBossPro electrical invoicing software page.

To see what customers see, the live demo is a fully stocked sample electrical company you can click through with no signup.