Prepayment Explained

Utility submetering refers to a system that allows a landlord, property management firm, condominium association, homeowners association, or other multi-tenanted property management organization to bill tenants for individually measured utility usage. The approach makes use of individual meters (called submeters) that measure and control usage against an available balance. The tenant needs to purchase a prepaid token which has encrypted digits. These digits are entered into the meter to increase the available utility units balance. The selling of this token to a tenant is referred to as prepaid vending. The tenant is allowed to consume the utility to the extent they have purchased or "prepaid". The landlord collects the money needed to settle the bulk bill to the utility provider in advance. The landlord typically applies a tariff similar to that charged by the utility provider on the bulk bill so as to not be out of pocket or to disadvantage the tenant. Once the submeter is installed, the landlord needs to provide the tenant with the token digits and the tenant needs to provide the landlord with the money. This is where the landlord needs a vending solution and provider such as CybervendIT. The landlord has the following options: