CyberCash to Offer Bill Payments Through America Online Site
CyberCash to Offer Bill Payments Through America Online Site
Dulles, Virginia, June 16 (Bloomberg) -- America Online Inc. and CyberCash Inc. said they will work together to help utilities and other merchants in the Washington, D.C., area send bills and receive payments over the Internet.
Washington-area billers starting in July will link up with AOL'S ''Digital City'' for the D.C. area so that Internet users can pay routine bills with electronic cash. If this pilot project is successful it could be expanded to 37 other Digital City sites serving AOL subscribers around the U.S. ''It gives them the ability to reach more consumers,'' said Nancy Goldberg, a CyberCash vice president in charge of Internet bill payment.
Firms such as CyberCash hope to capture a slice of what experts predict will be hundreds of billions in online commerce. The alliance between CyberCash and AOL presents a challenge to MSFDC, the venture between Microsoft Corp. and First Data Corp.; Checkfree Holdings Corp., another electronic payments firm; and Intuit Inc., which promotes electronic payments and banking with its Quicken Internet site.
CyberCash, a Reston, Virginia-based startup, has about 3,000 merchants that use its Internet payments software, and was handling 2 million transactions a month at the end of March. CyberCash developed a ''wallet'' that lets Internet users transmit credit card numbers or electronic checks securely to online merchants.
Dulles, Virginia-based America Online is the world's largest online service provider with more than 12 million subscribers. With the alliance, AOL can promote Internet payments as it solicits companies and consumers to visit its Digital Cities sites, where the firm generates revenue by selling advertising and attracting more users.
Electronic Commerce Battle
There's an emerging battle among companies looking to profit from electronic commerce. CyberCash says its technology stays in the background letting vendors deal with their customers directly. Merchants and utilities can bill customers directly now on their own sites, though that requires consumers to seek out their billers.
On the other hand, Internet sites that ''concentrate'' customers get in between billers and their customers. The problem is utilities and other companies rely on the monthly bill to communicate with customers. ''You lose some control,'' said Goldberg, who declined to say how many merchants will be involved in the D.C. area or how many transactions the company expects. ''The consolidator comes between you and your customer,''.
William N. Melton, CyberCash founder and chief executive, is an America Online director.
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