(COMTEX) B: billserv.com and Norcal Waste Systems Select Wells Fargo for Bill
Presentment and Distribution
SAN FRANCISCO, May 3, 2000 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Wells Fargo & Co. (NYSE:WFC)
announced today that billserv.com, Inc. (Nasdaq:BLLS), an electronic bill
presentment and payment (EBPP) service bureau, signed a multi-year bill
distribution agreement with Wells Fargo. The agreement will give billserv.com's
more than 20 biller customers -- including Chevron, AFSA, Sallie Mae
Corporation, Central Hudson Gas & Electric Corp., Reliant Energy and Ultramar
Diamond Shamrock -- the ability to securely present bills to member banking
customers of Spectrum EBP LLC, an independent company fully owned by The Chase
Manhattan Corporation, First Union Corporation and Wells Fargo & Company.
Additionally, Wells Fargo announced today that San Francisco-based Norcal Waste
Systems, Inc., the fifth largest solid waste management company in the United
States, will use Wells Fargo's EBPP solution to enable its more than 400,000
residential and 50,000 commercial and industrial customers to view and pay bills
online. Norcal is a 100 percent employee-owned company and an industry leader in
innovative refuse management and recycling programs. These announcements reflect
Wells Fargo's ongoing commitment to helping more billers realize the benefits of
its unique solution and to realizing its goal of making electronic bill
presentment and payment easy and time-efficient for as many consumers as
possible.
Wells Fargo & Co., the nation's leading Internet bank, established an EBPP
solution in late 1999, with the strategy of partnering with billers to provide
them with a secure and comprehensive service. This fully integrated EBPP
solution enables billers to present bills online, anywhere their customers
choose to view and pay them. Wells Fargo offers three different EBPP services --
one that enables billers to present bills directly to their consumers via a
"biller direct" Web site and via Spectrum; another designed for billers that
want the reach that Spectrum offers without building a biller direct Web site;
and the last for billers with an existing EBPP solution who want to utilize the
Wells Fargo bill summary distribution service via Spectrum.
"Our goal is to work together with billers to expedite the implementation of
their EBPP solution," said Steve Ellis, executive vice president of Wells
Fargo's Wholesale Internet Solutions. "Because Wells Fargo has nearly half a
million bill pay customers, 1.8 million Internet banking customers, and
connections through Spectrum to nearly 5 million additional online banking
customers, there is critical mass of customers ready, willing, and able to view
and pay their bills online."
Spectrum was formed to facilitate the exchange of electronic bills and payments,
with the mission of providing a secure, open and interoperable infrastructure to
electronically link consumer and biller service providers. Spectrum's three
founding institutions, together with current and prospective member banks,
represent over 4.7 million online consumers and include nine of the top 30
credit card issuers nationwide. Six new Spectrum participants were recently
announced. Additionally, 12 institutions have signed letters of intent to
participate in Spectrum.
"Banks are a strategic and key component in the success of electronic billing,
and through our agreement with Wells Fargo, we are now able to access Spectrum's
impressive group of member banks," said Michael Long, chairman and CEO of
billserv.com. "Banks like Wells Fargo provide a level of trust and guarantee to
the process, and we look forward to offering our customers the ability to
present bills to Spectrum's growing network of banks."
"We selected Wells Fargo as our EBPP provider because we wanted a tried and
trusted service," said Mike Sangiacomo, president and CEO of Norcal Waste
Systems, Inc. "With Wells Fargo's EBPP service, we'll realize significant cost-
and time-savings, and we'll help fulfill our commitment to making our customers'
billing experience with Norcal as easy and painless as possible."
Well known as an online innovator, Wells Fargo's EBPP service capitalizes on the
growing trend of online bill payment. According to a recent Jupiter
Communications survey, 42 percent of consumers would prefer to collect their
bills online from banks -- a clear majority over other sources, including
portals and personal financial software. Gartner Group research also indicates
that consumers who bank or trade online prefer paying bills and viewing
financial accounts at their banks rather than major portals by a factor of five
to one.
About Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) is a $222 billion diversified financial
services company providing banking, insurance, investments, mortgage and
consumer finance services through 5,300 stores, its Internet site
(www.wellsfargo.com) and other distribution channels across North America as
well as internationally.
About billserv.com, Inc.
billserv.com, Inc. (Nasdaq:BLLS) is an electronic bill presentment and payment
service bureau that provides billers with a turnkey outsourcing solution for
presenting bills to consumers for payment on the Internet. billserv.com serves
an intermediary role between billers and bill aggregators by consolidating
customer billing information from multiple billers, and then securely delivering
it to aggregators. billserv.com has four product offerings: eServ(SM), Internet
billing clearinghouse services for EBPP; ePublishing(SM), electronic publishing
services for online statement delivery; eCare(SM), an interactive customer care
center operation; and eConsulting(SM), professional consulting services for
billing organizations offering in-house bill presentment. billserv.com also owns
and develops bills.com, the first Internet portal dedicated to EBPP, where
consumers can pay all their bills electronically. For additional information,
visit billserv.com.
About Norcal Waste Systems, Inc.
Norcal is the largest employee-owned company in the solid waste industry,
providing waste management services to more than 400,000 residential and 50,000
commercial and industrial customers. Norcal is parent to two dozen subsidiaries
providing solid waste services to more than 50 communities and the exclusive
service provider in San Francisco. Norcal provides the highest level of service
in the industry -- a commitment born when the company was established in 1921.
Norcal offers all facets of solid waste management including collection,
recycling, transfer and landfill operations. Norcal pioneered recycling five
generations ago and recycled up to 50 percent of the waste stream long before
recycling became fashionable -- or mandated by law.
Norcal delivers some of the most innovative recycling programs in the country
including material recovery facilities, construction and demolition debris
recycling, and large-scale composting of food and organic wastes, and the
company is constantly testing new ways to improve and increase recycling. For
additional information, visit norcalwaste.com.
Distributed via COMTEX.
Copyright (C) 2000 Business Wire. All rights reserved.
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CONTACT: Wells Fargo
Wendy Grover, 415/396-5905
KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: BANKING
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