By DANIEL RIORDAN
Households will soon be able to pay for goods and services using swipecard readers built into their telephones.
Think of it as a couch potato's dream and a meter reader's nightmare.
The system's developers - electricity retailer TrustPower and eftpos company Insight Data - are claiming it as a world first, and are convinced paying the power bill is the first step towards being able to pay for almost anything without straying from the phone.
It could easily be services from the water utility, phone company, milkman, pizza deliverer, pay-TV operator or even Lotto being supplied and paid for down the phone line.
The swipecard phone, which has all the functions of an ordinary phone, plugs into a normal jack, but is linked through a "meter interface box" to the electricity meter.
Users can pay with debit or credit cards, enjoying the full security of existing eftpos systems.
The system is the culmination of a three-year search for a simpler and more convenient way of getting customers to pay for their electricity, says TrustPower chief executive Jeff Williams.
But it is more than just an alternative to paying the bill by direct debit or sending a cheque through the mail.
A liquid crystal display on the phone shows households their power usage down to a half-hourly level for yesterday, last week and last month, as well as power prices for each interval, the credit dollar balance if households are paying in advance, and the day when the balance needs to be topped up.
Community groups have welcomed the innovation, says TrustPower, as it allows low income households to budget consumption more effectively.
The systems are being marketed by a new company called POS Power, set up as a 50/50 joint venture between TrustPower and Insight Data, and governed by a mixture of TrustPower and Insight directors.
POS Power is aiming to be earning more than $20 million within the next two years.
It hopes to install 7500 systems in the first year and then up to 50,000 a year.
One thousand systems will be in use before Christmas after successful field trials last year.
The company is already receiving inquiries from utility providers in Australia and the US, and wants to market across the Tasman as soon as possible.
POS Power has applied for patents in New Zealand and internationally. The competitiveness of the deregulated energy sector here has meant the impetus to develop such a system has been greater than anywhere else, says Mr Williams.
The units are being manufactured by NJS Electronics, based in the old Pye factory in Waihi.
TrustPower will be the only energy company allowed to use the system, but it will be available to other providers.
The benefits for listed TrustPower as it continues to expand from its Tauranga home base are many.
The company has 230,000 customers nationwide and faces huge costs in billing them all and handling account inquiries - about $70 a customer a year, says Mr Williams.
It is also hoping its exclusive rights to the system among electricity retailers will prove a drawing point for customers ahead of its competitors.
Revenue to POS Power will also come through advertisers who can send messages to the phone's display screen.
Some systems may be rented by households; others may be owned outright at prices that could vary from nothing to several hundred dollars depending on the range of added value services, says Mr Williams.
The launch of the system coincides with Insight Data's plans to list on the NZ and Australian Stock Exchanges as Cadmus Technology, using a shortcut listing method pioneered by mining company Heritage Gold.
Power bill due? Swipe the phone
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