CityInsight Streamlines How Detroit Water and Sewerage Customers Pay Their Bills

Published on by in Business

CityInsight Streamlines How Detroit Water and Sewerage Customers Pay Their Bills

Abess Makki, the 24-year-old University of Michigan grad student, has come up with a way to streamline how Detroit Water and Sewerage customers pay their water bill, cutting down on the need to stand in long lines or take time off work.

Makki, whose family is from Sierra Leone in West Africa, is the founder and CEO of CityInsight. The Detroit-area native started his company with the goal of helping municipal utilities provide residents with better tools to manage their water usage and costs.

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Image source: CityInsight

“This vision of the company is to make government digital,” he said. “There’s a big gap there. I started CityInsight to give insight to the citizens. The first product we made, which was the customer portal, was giving that feel you get from cable companies, credit card companies and other utilities. Detroit Water and Sewer wanted to make tools for its citizens, but they didn’t necessarily have the right team in place.”

With determination and a plan, Makki convinced DWSD to invest in his startup company, and eventually the two parties struck a licensing agreement.

In the first month, $2 million in water bills were paid through the new customer care portal by nearly 4,000 customers.

“This technology is a win for everyone,” Makki said. “CityInsight enables Detroit to collect more revenue, have more satisfied customers and promote smart consumer habits. The app went live on Aug. 21. The numbers are growing every day. With Amazon Alexa, you can essential ask what your usage is. It’ll give you a billing and give you a balance.

“I went at this hard for two years. I understand what it takes to build an app.”

With Makki’s app the DWSD customer care portal enables Detroit residents to:

—Register accounts for resident and nonresidential properties.

—Make or schedule payments using a credit card or banking information.

—Use “guest pay” feature to pay on their accounts.

—Monitor payment and account history anywhere, anytime.

—Enter a payment plan arrangement.

 

Read full article: GovTech

Find out more: CityInsight

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