Tech Bytes: Argentinians Can Pay Utility Bills at Market

BankBoston Corp. said it has introduced a service in Argentina, Unipago, that allows consumers to pay utility bills at supermarket checkout lines.

The custom has been to pay only at banks because of an unreliable mail system. With Unipago, customers can obtain a printout of their bill from a kiosk. They take the document to the checkout counter, where it is scanned and paid with cash.

"Since Unipago is free and users are not required to have a bank account, we expect many to take advantage of its convenience," said Nancy Russell, BankBoston's regional director, Latin American cash management.

The supermarket chain Disco collaborated with BankBoston and International Business Machines Corp. to introduce Unipago, which they hope to expand to other retailers and many types of bills. Participating billers include Telefonica de Argentina, Telecom Argentina, Metrogas, Gas Natural BAN, Edenor, Edesur, and Aguas Argentina.

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