>>>>The InterNet I say is then my 21st Century source of Financial Information? It is...yes it is!?...there is a lot more out there in InterNet land then on any one Banks WebSite.
And I would wager that they are scared shitless over the whole deal...hence their feet dragging up till this point.
Now...to take this one step further...."For the moment, a direct distribution model suits everybody. It provides sticky content that will bring customers back time and again," says Avivah Litan, a director for market research firm GartnerGroup. Nevertheless, she predicts some dramatic changes. "Portals will eventually get in on the action, get rid of consolidators like CheckFree and TransPoint, and go directly to the billers themselves," she says.
Then we might as well throw in The Exchange here right? They would be a consolidator too, wouldn't they be? The entire Billing in the future will be taken care of by portals no need for consolidators...(but wait? wouldn't a portal then be a defacto consolidator victor by replacing these other "non" consolidators...think so..think about it..)
So PHASE ONE; TransPoint CheckFree and the Exchange are winners...that is common in both pieces...considering this...Billers will encourage e-bill presentment and payment and consumers will receive consistent messages to move to e-bills. "This is a technology that is cheaper right out of the box and cheaper every time you use it," he said. "There's no big wait for the pay-off and both sides of the equation will love that." Levin dismissed the move toward portal site agreements by CheckFree and other e-commerce players, declaring that TransPoint will align itself closely to the banking industry.
Then according to this GartnerGroup person...portals will win the day in PHASE TWO; "Portals will eventually get in on the action, get rid of consolidators like CheckFree and TransPoint, and go directly to the billers themselves," she says...again to get rid of the consolidators....they must become one...if that is there function.
And then in the FINAL PHASE; your toaster takes over...She goes even further to suggest that within five years consumers will have electronic agents sent out from household devices that will handle such chores as bill payment automatically, eliminating the need for Web portals as we understand them today.
The only question I have at this point...and there are conflicting outcomes here...is this; "WHY DOES PETE KIGHT KEEP SAYING THIS ISN'T A SOFTWARE BUSINESS...THIS IS A SERVICE BUSINESS?"
I mean where is CheckFree investing their money now? Service centers, more people..more staff more buildings...why? If this is a technology business after all and you could pay bills off your toaster someday why do you need more, people, staff & buildings? I'm missing something very important here I'm sure. But if a toaster is going to replace personal service...why spend the money?
When a problem arises..and I'm sure there will be many, many, and many...many..many more. Who do you call? The Bank, the Biller, the Toaster...or the Portal? Whoever it is they ain't got what CheckFree's got, or is building to got....so how much money you got and how much are you going to got us.
And then what about the 30% of your billers who will never, never, never in the next 10 years bill you electronically? How you going to pay them electronically via a toaster? Who's going to send the Check? The portal or the Toaster? PHASE TWO OR PHASE THREE, take your pick...and since it isn't Electronic..you can't have Electronic Customer Service...or can you?
No electronic billing just Electronic Customer Service...yea that's the ticket...we can all solve our service problems with a computer! Technology ain't it grand?
Which half do you want Automated? |
