May 31, 2024

What do you say when a friend, family member or neighbor asks a question about a specific topic pertaining to FirstEnergy? Here is some information you may want to share if you’re asked about changes to our electronic payment options.

FirstEnergy is switching to a new third-party electronic payment processor – ACI Speedpay®.

What customers can expect.

The transition will occur in two phases, beginning with credit and debit card payments earlier this month. As part of this phase, we have started accepting payments through two new options – Venmo and PayPal. Later this year, additional electronic payment options like bank draft/ACH will be processed through ACI Speedpay.

For both residential and commercial customers who make individual payments each month, there will be some changes in service fees later in 2024. These fees are charged by the new third-party electronic payment processor and apply only to one-time payments:

• For residential customers, the third-party service fee for a one-time credit or debit card payment will decrease from $4.75 per transaction to $2.75 per transaction.
• For commercial customers, the third-party service fee for a one-time credit or debit card payment will decrease from 3% to 2.75% of the total transaction.
• There will be a new service fee of 50 cents per transaction for both residential and commercial customers paying by bank account (ACH).

To avoid service fees charged by the third-party payment processor for making one-time payments, customers can schedule automatic payments by enrolling in the AutoPay Credit Card or AutoPay Bank Account programs. These programs help ensure they stay up to date on their electric bills while avoiding third-party service fees.

Customers may notice some changes in the way the transaction appears on their billing or credit card statement. This can vary by financial institution. Throughout this transition, they can continue to expect the same level of support and security when making payments with FirstEnergy.

What do they need to do?

If they are enrolled in automatic payments, they have been transitioned into the AutoPay Credit Card or AutoPay Bank Account programs, and their payment will be processed as normal.

If they prefer, they can still call or mail in payment; however, we will no longer accept payments via text or Boost. If they are currently using these methods, we encourage them to explore one of our many other payment options.

More information and answers to FAQs can be found at firstenergycorp.com/payFAQ.