The expensive bills are the new nightmare of Italian families who suffer the consequences of the tension on the prices of raw materials, above all gas. A topic that is close to everyone’s heart is that of being able to save on the cost of electricity, gas, telephone utilities and connection to the network. Changing suppliers is so complicated that you often stay with the same manager for years, paying more. “Sometimes a lot more” he assures Marco Tricarico CEO and founder with Redi Vyshka e Francesco Laffifrom Switcho, a startup that functions as a kind of personal savings assistant. You upload your bill to the app or website, from your computer, tablet or mobile phone and in a short time you will get the answer of how much you could save if you changed supplier. Switch, precisely. Change.
The tailor-made bill
Everything works thanks to an algorithm that reads the bill, even in its most mysterious parts. “We upload the data, usually the bills, which come to us from users who ask for our advice. Then the system is able to analyze not only consumption, but also all those items of fixed costs that are difficult to interpret and which often discourage even the most convinced savers “, explains Tricarico” the next step is to find in our database the best offers compared to the initial situation. Yes, because the system compares the parameters of the departure bill with those offered on the market, net of promotions.
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Once the best rate has been found, the actual savings are quantified and the answer is sent within a few minutes directly to the mobile phone or website. What if it happened that the user’s rate was already the right one? Sure and obviously we tell him without problems “.
300 euros on average a year less
Marco Tricarico before dedicating himself to the startup worked in a consulting company. And it is there that he met Vyshka and Laffi, the oldest is 37 years old. It was 2019 when, with a degree in engineering and economics behind them, they decided to become analysts and consultants to help consumers cut their electricity, gas, internet and telephone bills. Thus was born Switcho: three started, now the team is made up of 40 people. “We have calculated that in recent years we have been able to save our customers an average of 300 euros per year. Per a total of over 2 million euros in savings. Between September 2021 and March 2022 alone, we analyzed 70,000 bills “.
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Not bad for a service that costs the consumer nothing. “Yes, because our income is with companies – specifies Tricarico – not with customers. We offer one consultancy only via the web. No phone calls, unless the customer specifically asks for it. “Other services?” If, after analyzing our savings proposals, the user wants to change supplier, we can take care of the transfer. To do switch precisely. A part of the team takes care of the bureaucracy and the administrative part on behalf of the client. We have recently also included the service for the transfer of utilities in the event of a move “.
The most common mistakes
“Passivity is the most common mistake of Italian users“, Tricarico says bluntly. Untangling the infinite options available on the market for domestic users, but also for companies is complicated, not counting the time spent dealing with the bureaucratic steps.” And it is for this reason that in Italy, 60% of households tend not to change operator for years, even decades. This, energy suppliers know and have a customer loyalty system in reverse: the price that is signed with the contract remains fixed only for the first 12-24 months, then at the end of that period the rate is no longer convenient. We have seen contracts activated 10-15 years ago, when the energy cost tariffs were half the price. Gas, for example, cost 0.30 cents, not 1 euro like today. In some cases, looking for ‘tailor-made’ solutions we were able to cut the bill by even 50%“.
The makers of Switch do the example of the owners of a second home. Often, they say, they do not make a timely search for most advantageous rate for that kind of situation. In this case, they explain, the best solution would be to find a supplier who offers better conditions on that part of the bill than the so-called “fixed costs” and not of the variable ones, that is on consumption that will be lower than the house in which you normally live. “Often, however, people make the opposite choice: they bet everything on promise of savings without verifying that this is really there. Finding himself then with a higher bill “explains Tricarico who stresses” for this reason being a passive user can therefore be expensive“How expensive it can be to accept the rates that are offered over the phone.
At Switcho, they are convinced that by comparing, analyzing and studying the rates offered, which are constantly changing, you can save money. Consumers, they recommend, must be “active subjects”. And in the future? After the bills on domestic consumption, the app and its algorithm will be able to understand if our insurance, mortgage, pay TV service are really advantageous. Or whether it will be worth the change to save.