I extracted the following from Newstar Web site. With this acquisition, Mpact is getting into Bill Presentment on the Canadian side but with a strong team, Transpoint(MSFT/First Data). This is great news! Following is Northstar anouncement with MSFT.
NEWSTAR & MICROSOFT ANNOUNCE AN INTEGRATED SOLUTION FOR INTERNET BILL PRESENTMENT FOR CANADIAN FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS
Newstar and Microsoft announce plans to jointly provide Canada's first seamlessly integrated Internet bill presentment solution. New on-line technology benefits business and consumers and enhances the role of banks.
TORONTO, July 24 - Newstar Technologies and Microsoft today announced plans for a revolutionary new solution that will enable online banking customers to receive and pay their bills on the Internet. The platform combines Newstar's I² technology, with the Microsoft® BackOffice® familyof products, and bill presentment software developed by MSFDC (a joint venture of Microsoft and First Data Corp to develop bill presentment software for banks). This solution enables Financial Institutions and businesses to quickly implement billing systems on the Internet, creating a uniquely Canadian bill presentment system readily available to millions of Canadian Households, and small businesses.
Newstar's I² system lets "Billers" such as utilities, department stores, telephone and cable companies offer their customers the opportunity to see, review and pay their bills - on the Internet, over the phone or at their banking machines. Consumers access their bank's Website, and receive a consolidated view of all their outstanding bills. They can review any specific billing statement, including in-depth billing details, and arrange paymentwith the click of a button.
Today, largely through the adoption of "Made-in-Canada" electronic banking technology, Canadians enjoy the most advanced electronic banking systems in the world. Bill presentment leverages the leading edge technology of Financial Institutions through the leverage of Banking Machines, Telephone and Internet banking methods. Within the first year of being launched in Canada, Newstar estimates that some 1 million bills per month may be presented via the Internet. A comparable system developed by MSFDC is being market tested by multiple banks and billers in the U.S. and will be available to millions of American households at the end of this year.
The Newstar approach eliminates the need for costly paper and mailing by billers. Consumers today receive an average of 80 bills a year through the mail, which cost billers anywhere from 50 cents to $2.50 each in postage,paper and processing. On-line services such as bill presentment can reduce that cost significantly. These savings not only give merchants and small businesses a competitive cost advantage but also help them provide more value to their customers. Newstar's experience in performing bill payment services for many of the primary banks and thousands of the top billers in Canada provides an excellent base for building the totally seamless new presentment and payment service.
Canadians are world leaders not only in adopting electronic banking services but also in providing the leading-edge technology to sustain them.Said Michael Wilson, Chairman of Newstar: "Bill presentment is not a matterof 'if', but of 'when'. Our vision with Microsoft will enable us to offer a 'Made in Canada' product that's ready to go to market within the next year."
According to Simon Witts, General Manager of Microsoft Canada Co.: "As Canadians experience the opportunity to both view and pay their bills electronically in such a highly personalized and convenient way, they will increasingly use the Internet for their banking needs. In helping Canadian banks we have found that bill presentment makes a Website the best marketing vehicle a bank has. The combination of Microsoft and Newstar technologies enables a rich, highly advanced, easy-to-use tool for Canadians in their everyday life."
HOW THE PROCESS WORKS:
Newstar and Microsoft have developed processes and tools that make it easy for banks, billers, and consumers to sign up and use the service. Once sign-up is complete, here's how the process works:
Statements or bills that would otherwise have been printed are rendered in an electronic form and sent to the Newstar Central Facility
The Newstar Central Facility consolidates bills from many Billers so customers can find all their bills in one place
Customers visit their Bank's Web site, and select Bills which seamlessly lets them view bills from the Newstar Central Facility. The Bank integrates this with its other online offerings; for example, by displaying account balances as part of the bill payment function and by showing bill payment status information or offering new bill payment loan services
Customers review bills and schedule payments via the bank's bill payment service
Remittance information (the electronic equivalent of the bill stub) is returned to the Biller by way of the Newstar Central Facility or via other existing bulk advice delivery services.
Payments are routed from the customer's bank account to the Billers bank account utilizing the bank's existing bill payment settlement process
Based in Toronto, Newstar Technologies Inc. (http://www.newstar-tech.com) is a leading global supplier of online electronic banking solutions to the financial industry. As one of the industry's pre-eminent software developers and systems integrators, Newstar services more than 400 financial, commercial and public sector clients, including all of Canada's major banks and trust companies.
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com/canada) is the worldwide leader in software for personal computers. The company offers a wide range of products and services for business and personal use; each designed with the mission of making it easier and more enjoyable for people to take advantage of the full power of computing every day.
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Microsoft and BackOffice are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries. Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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