Billserv Connects Companies to Their Customers Through Its Advanced eBilling,
Customer Care and Internet Communications Suite
SAN ANTONIO, July 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Billserv, Inc. (Nasdaq: BLLS), the
leading electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) Outsourced Solution
Provider delivering electronic billing, online customer care, Internet direct
marketing and communications, today announced that it has transformed the
electronic bill into a dynamic one-to-one direct care and communication medium
for companies to powerfully interact with their customers. This Customer
Communication Network privately and securely puts billers in direct,
interactive contact with their own customers.
A Billserv Customer Communication Network has, at its core, a
comprehensive EBPP suite, consisting of eServ(TM) electronic billing,
eCare(TM) online real-time customer care, and eInsert(TM) Internet direct
marketing and communication. By integrating these systems into a single,
outsourced solution, Billserv effectively creates a direct media network,
developing one-to-one online interactive customer relationships and
communication. Now, companies have a reliable, personalized, highly targeted
and measurable link to their consumers as well as a means to provide customer
service within the same session.
"Our solution surrounds the electronic bill with interactive customer care
and communications, providing our clients with a dynamic and predictable link
to their customers while generating unprecedented savings and revenue
opportunities," said Michael Long, CEO of Billserv, Inc. "We believe that a
Network, which can be deployed in as little as 90 days, will have a
significant near-term impact on profitability and customer retention for our
clientele."
"Customer-focused activities today must provide not only cost-reducing
opportunities but relationship building and revenue enhancing opportunities as
well," said Kimberly L. Collins, Ph.D, and a Senior Research Analyst at
Gartner Inc. "Solutions such as Billserv's Customer Communication Network can
be used to leverage required consumer interactions, such as bill viewing and
payment, to increase customer satisfaction and build loyalty through better
customer service, increase revenue and profit through targeted marketing as
well as reduce the overall cost to service the customer."
By creating this comprehensive offering, Billserv has increased the value
of its service to such a high level that companies now have good reason not to
wait for consumer demand for EBPP and push aggressive programs to move
wholesale groups of customers from paper to electronic billing. In this way,
companies can now follow the pattern established by banks with their ATM
networks, gasoline retailers with self-service stations and airlines with
e-ticketing. In every case, the companies determined that there was
substantial benefit to changing the paradigm of their service delivery. What
made them successful was the ultimate benefit the consumers realized once they
were past the initial reaction brought about by change.
No more waiting for consumer adoption
Billserv clients are currently enjoying adoption rates up to 8 times the
national average. Now, with this compelling corporate advantage, Billserv has
provided the incentive for clients to effectively bypass remaining adoption
barriers. Companies who embrace this service are highly motivated to migrate
their customer base to their private Customer Communication Network.
Mandatory movement of all or part of the customer base is feasible.
Incentives, such as discounts for enrolling in the Network or surcharges for
paper bills, are alternately used to entice customers to make the change
voluntarily, in far greater numbers than "organic" adoption would provide.
Dramatic biller cost savings
The end result, moving a third or more of their customers to the Network,
produces not only a strong communications link, but also tremendous cost
savings. As an example, a company issuing only 250,000 paper bills per month
with a standard cost of only $1.50 per mailing and payment received will
receive bottom-line savings of $1.1 million per year, or $5.5 million over a
five-year period. Five-year savings escalate to over $22 million for
companies with a million or more bills per month.
Further and more dramatic savings are available through Billserv's
customer service efficiencies. Billserv's customer care solution is also more
cost effective and consumer-centric than a stand-alone call center. According
to industry analysts, the "typical" U.S. electric company spends $7.79 per
customer each year to operate its call centers. Whereas, a Billserv energy
client spends on average $1.92 per customer each year using eCare, Billserv's
outsourced customer care solution.
"Chevron understands that the monthly billing event is one of the most
effective mediums for communicating directly with our credit card customers,"
says Arlita Acuesta, Manager of Direct Mail Marketing for Chevron Corporation.
"We want to optimize this customer point of contact in every way we can, not
only to create deeper customer relationships, but also to reinforce our
quality Chevron brand. Our electronic billing solution, implemented with
Billserv, promises to be the billing channel which will help us achieve this."
Assistance migrating customers to electronic billing
To help companies quickly populate their Customer Communication Network,
Billserv has a professional staff of marketing consultants who actively assist
clients in creating customer migration programs, giving them a clear path to
enrollment levels far in excess of national averages for consumer adoption.
Billserv is actively promoting conversion of its current clients from
basic EBPP systems to full Customer Communication Networks. Billserv's
current customer base represents 15.5% of all paper bills in the United States
or 3.1 billion paper bills annually.
About Billserv, Inc.
Billserv, Inc. is the leading electronic bill presentment and payment
Outsourced Solution Provider, delivering comprehensive, cost-effective
solutions for presenting and servicing consumer bills for payment via the
Internet. As part of an integrated EBPP solution, the company also provides
market-leading Internet customer care and direct marketing applications.
Billserv consolidates customer billing information and then securely delivers
it to distribution end points and to the client's own presentment and payment
site, hosted by Billserv. The company has relationships with all major EBPP
distribution channels, including CheckFree, Spectrum, MasterCard RPPS,
Paytrust, Metavante and BillingZone, giving companies and customers the widest
array of Web sites from which to deliver, view, pay and manage bills. For
additional information, visit billserv.com or call (210) 402-5000.
With the exception of historical information contained in this release,
this release includes forward-looking statements made under the "Safe Harbor"
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These
statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to
differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements.
Investor Relations Contact:
Jack Roney
(210) 402-5160
jack.roney@billserv.com
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SOURCE Billserv, Inc.
-0- 07/25/2001
/CONTACT: Jack Roney of Billserv, Inc., +1-210-402-5160, or
jack.roney@billserv.com/
/Web site: billserv.com /
(BLLS)
CO: Billserv, Inc.
ST: Texas
IN: CPR MLM STW ECM
SU: PDT
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