Improved bill payment in Bulgaria

Opportunity to pay utility bills by sending a text message will be available to Bulgarians due to a new payment service - via mobile phones, called ePayGSM. The system is launched by Bulgarian electronic payments system ePay.bg.

ePay.bg is collaborating with 21 banks in the country. To use the new system service Bulgarians need to have a valid mobile phone number and an active bank account from one of these bank institutions. A customer makes a one-time registration via cell phone on the site of ePayGSM or in a bank office.

After sending inquiry text message to the specified number a customer may receive more detailed information.

System subscribers will be able to pay bills for electricity, heating, water, telephone, mobile phone, gas supply, internet, cable television, as well as leasing, credits and rents, among others. The fee charged for registration accounts for 0.9 leva.

Monthly the system is to send a special text message to a customer. The message will contain the information about the amount owed; answering the message, according to the instructions, will complete the payment.

There are no additional charges for the ePayGSM service. Besides the service will be available from abroad. Text messages cost is defined on the basis of the personal rate schedule.

ePayGSM service is said to be extremely easy, fast and convenient and customers needed no special technical or computer skills. "We are sure that the service will replace the boring and long waiting on queues," states Georgi Marinov, ePay.bg executive director.