Tucson Electric Power launched updated payment options on Sept. 9.

All customers now can make free one-time payments through My Account, and most will pay a reduced convenience fee for credit or debit card payments.

The changes will save our customers more than $1 million annually in processing fees while giving them more ways to pay and streamlining their payment process.

“Our customers asked for more, lower-cost ways to pay their bill – and we listened,” said Aaron Groff, TEP’s Manager of Customer Care for Remittance.

Here’s what’s new:

• Free online payments – All customers now can make easy and secure one-time payments with a checking or savings account using My Account on tep.com. Those not enrolled in My Account can make a one-time payment of up to $750 on our websites for a reduced convenience fee of $1.95, down from $3.50 per transaction.
• Lower-cost card payments – Customers can make a payment of up to $750 on our websites with a credit or debit card for a reduced fee of $1.95, down from $3.50 per transaction.

The fee for payments over $750 has increased to $9.95 per transaction, a change that affects primarily larger commercial customers. The increase allows TEP to reduce the convenience fee for customers making smaller payments.

• New cash payment options – Customers can now pay their bill with cash at local CVS and 7-Eleven stores for a $1.99 fee after obtaining a code and instructions on our websites. They can still pay at Walmart for a $1.50 fee.

We’ve also made changes to My Account that will streamline customers’ TEP e-bill experience. With fewer clicks, e-bill customers now can:

• View and pay their bill using new buttons on the “Account Summary” page.
• View, add, update and delete the bank accounts they use to pay their bill on a new “Manage Bank Accounts” page.
• Review their scheduled and completed payments on the “Payment History” page.
• Access PDFs of their previous bills by clicking on the bill date on the “Bill History” page.

With these updates, a few e-bill features changed:

• Existing payment reminders were adjusted to 5 days before the due date and the day after the date. Previously, reminders could be scheduled for up to 10 days before and 10 days after the payment due date.
• Scheduled recurring payments were automatically transitioned to Auto Pay.
• The ability to set a maximum payment threshold for recurring payments was eliminated, and all existing payment thresholds were removed.
• The ability to pay a weekly or monthly fixed amount was eliminated.