PLDT, Smart expand digital billing system

MANILA, Philippines — PLDT Inc. and its wireless unit Smart Communications Inc. continue to expand digital billing to make it more convenient for customers to receive, view, and store their monthly bills.

Starting next month, enterprise customers may be able to view their statements of account through online channels, as the group migrates to paperless billing.

The migration for enterprise customers complements the earlier implementation of the same shift for the group’s individual and home broadband customers.

“We enjoin our customers to embrace the move towards default paperless billing. This shift is part of our unrelenting focus on improving our enterprise customer’s experience that ensures easier access, a more timely delivery of their statements of account, as well as safeguarding data privacy,” PLDT and Smart president and CEO Alfredo Panlilio said.

“This is also aligned with our groupwide sustainability efforts at PLDT, as a steward of this planet for the next generation,” he said.

PLDT said paperless billing allows customers to immediately access their monthly statement as soon as they become available, giving them more time to settle their bill before the due date.

It said sending statements directly to customers’ inbox also avoids accidental misdelivery and prevents customer data from falling into the wrong hands.

PLDT and Smart on their end assured customers that their personal information are well-protected given the robust cybersecurity infrastructure of the group.

The migration to paperless billing is in line with the PLDT group’s overall sustainability efforts to employ more environment friendly processes.

PLDT said the shift to digital monthly statements saves a thousand trees or 12 hectares of forest each month.

The eco friendly initiative also conserves some 117,000 kwH of energy and 1,400 liters of water used in paper production, while also cutting monthly carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 30 tons from the use of fossil fuels in delivering bills.

“The shift to paperless billing allows our customers to join hands with the PLDT group in doing our collective part in saving the environment and mitigating the effects of climate change. Aside from cutting less trees, this initiative will help reduce carbon emissions by eliminating the need for vehicles to deliver bills,” PLDT first vice president and chief sustainability officer Melissa Vergel De Dios said.