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Friday, February 14, 2025

Quiet Charlotte fintech Paymentus scores Alexa utility bill deal

A fast-growing, little-known Charlotte-based company announced that it’s partnered with Amazon to enable users of the Alexa voice-activation service to ask questions about their utility bills including due dates, current balances and comparisons with previous monthly charges.

Paymentus Corp. is a customer engagement and bill payment technology provider formed in 2004. CEO Dushyant Sharma says the collaboration with Amazon will boost Paymentus’ growth. He didn’t disclose financial details about the agreement, nor would he confirm or deny previous press reports that the company has annual revenue topping $175 million and has raised $3.6 million in capital.

Deloitte recognized the fintech firm as one of the fastest growing companies in North America four times between 2011-16. Payment transactions have increased by 40% annually over the past decade, the company website says.

The company has about 1,500 clients, including insurance, health care, consumer finance, telecom and utility companies. Paymentus has received scant press attention despite its rapid growth. Its website doesn’t include names of its management team, while its LinkedIn site shows it has from 250 to 500 employees.

Sharma worked as a general manager for Brown Deer, Wisc.-based Metavante Corp. and a predecessor online payments company, Atlanta-based Derivion Corp., before founding Paymentus, according to his LinkedIn profile.

“Improved experiences are proven to result in fewer calls to customer service or the billing department, fewer questions, less frustration and more satisfied and loyal customers,” Sharma said in an email.  “In the case of Amazon, aligning and integrating Alexa capabilities into the Paymentus Instant Payment Network, so that consumers can better understand and manage their utility bills just by asking questions is a natural fit.”

The company’s offerings include physical Kiosks, online portals, electronic billing, pay-by-text or email, interactive voice responses for calls and its flagship, artificial intelligence powered Instant Payment Network.

“Paymentus is focused on expanding our platform and Instant Payment Network to simplify how bills are paid and how customers engage with their billing companies. The easier we can make it for a consumer to access and understand their bills, the more likely they are to pay and pay on time,” Sharma says

Next year, Paymentus will launch services with PayPal and its affiliated business lines for more billing management options. “This is just another example of Paymentus working with a partner that focuses on customer experiences and relationships and how people want to manage their money today,” the CEO says.

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