Mérida, Yucatán — Add the water bill to the utilities you can pay at Oxxo.
The Junta de Agua Potable y Alcantarillado de Yucatán (Japay) and Oxxo now allow customers to pay their water bills at more than 300 convenience store branches in the city.
Already, Oxxo customers can pay electric bills, transfer money or buy cellphone airtime.
Japay’s general director, Manuel Carrillo Esquivel, hailed the deal as a convenience to the public.
“Sometimes because of the hectic pace of life that we have, it becomes difficult for us or we forget to pay our bills, but with this alliance, they will have the facility to do it a few steps from their homes,” he said.
The official said that since he assumed leadership at the utility, he instructed the administrative and commercial area to find a way to increase the number of establishments that accept water-bill payments. As a result, the number of third-party stores that accept Japay payments has jumped from 16 to 21.
“With this we managed to increase revenue collection, which allows us to have healthy finances and invest in the necessary improvements to provide the service,” said Carrillo Esquivel.
In turn, he took advantage of the occasion to remind users of the importance of covering their installments on time, in order to avoid surcharges that increase the cost of the receipt.
In addition to Oxxo, drinking water payments are accepted at Bancomer, Banamex, Scotiabank, Banorte, Santander, Banjercito, Super Aki, Soriana, Super Willys, Seven Eleven, Coppel, Dunosusa, Go Mart, Walmart, Chedraui, Farmacias del Ahorro and Farmacias YZA, as well as USE modules, the Japay website and its mobile app.
The latter options also allow customers to report problems and complaints, with direct followups from Japay.
Oxxo, founded in 1978, has 14,000 stores in Latin America and is the largest chain of its kind in Mexico.
Oxxo had predicted the deal would be signed by the end of 2017, and it wasn’t clear what prolonged the agreement.
