For those working on alternative payment systems for any services, this article is an inspiring read. This report analyses payment behaviour for urban water in Dar es Salaam, taking into account the rise of mobile payment. The report finds:

• Utility customers value and actively use multiple payment alternatives (water office, point of sale, electronic/mobile), which increase payment frequency and volume;
• Water offices dominate payment transactions (92%) but electronic and point of sale alternatives complement rather than substitute to improve payment behaviour;
• People paying at multiple alternatives out-perform all alternatives by frequency of payments (7.6 per year) and average annual revenue ($120);
• Greater distance to water offices increased electronic payments reducing social costs (travel time, queuing);
• Socio-economic characteristics (household size, education, employment, gender) did not influence payment behaviours;