Below is a news release from another player in the e-bill business, USCS International. As I read this announcment, the company is trying to find a niche for itself in a business it concedes will be dominated by CKFR and MSFDC.
USCS works for billers that want to present electronic bills on their own web sites, but says it also has "relationships" with CKFR and MSFDC -- which it calls "consolidators" -- to forward those e-bills so the people getting billed can collect all their bills on a single site.
Personally, I can't imagine having to jump around half a dozen different sites to see if my telephone, gas, electric, cable or other montly bills have popped up yet. So it seems to me the "consolidators" eventually get all the business, with companies like this one possibly serving as intermediaries for the billers.
USCS International Announces Electronic Bill Presentation and Payment Solution
RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 8, 1997--
Solution Allows Billers Option to Offer Efficient and
Cost-Effective Statement Delivery Via Their Own Web Sites or
Through Statement Consolidators
USCS International Inc. (NASDAQ:USCS) today announced that its International Billing Services subsidiary has introduced a new Electronic Billing Solution that offers billers an efficient and cost-effective new option in statement delivery.
With this solution, billers can deliver statements for viewing and payment via their own Web sites or through statement consolidators such as MSFDC, CheckFree, Intuit and others. Billers may also continue to use IBS to process, produce and deliver their paper statements via the U.S. Postal Service.
For billers who elect to display statements on their own Web sites, IBS will use internally-developed software to convert statement data streams into complete, interactive web-based statements. End users will access the biller's Web site to view full-color HTML versions of their statements -- complete with graphics, logos and full billing detail -- on their PC screens.
Customers can then securely pay their bills with the touch of a button, using payment services provided by CyberCash, an IBS electronic billing partner. CyberCash's payment suite includes PayNow Secure Electronic Check and Credit Card Services. PayNow securely processes consumers' checking account information in a highly encrypted format and allows consumers to write electronic checks.
Checks written with PayNow will appear on consumers' monthly checking account statements in the same way as debit card transactions.
Billers may also choose to deliver customer statements through electronic bill consolidation services announced by several leading consumer software and financial services companies, including MSFDC, CheckFree, Intuit and others. Such consolidation services seek to assemble several of a consumer's electronic statements in a single location, so the consumer need access only a single Web site to view and pay multiple bills.
IBS' internally developed software systems will also be used to channel billing data through such services.
One of IBS' first Electronic Billing Solution customers is AirTouch Paging. "At AirTouch Paging, we are committed to offering the most advanced communications technologies and the highest levels of customer service. The statements we provide our customers -- including the manner in which they receive them -- must reflect that position," said Kevin Broadway, Chief Information Officer for AirTouch Paging.
"Working with IBS has allowed us to expand the options our customers have for receiving and paying their bills, and they appreciate the flexibility we've shown in meeting their preferences." AirTouch Paging is one of the largest paging companies in the U.S. with over 3 million units in service at the end of the third quarter 1997.
IBS has established relationships with each major provider of electronic bill consolidation services and has built interfaces to each service. By using IBS' solution, billers eliminate the need to initiate, manage and maintain relationships with each of these services who will soon begin marketing directly to consumers.
Through its systems and software interfaces, IBS can dynamically route statements to the appropriate consolidation service depending on which service an individual consumer has chosen to use. The IBS solution is built upon industry standard technologies and open systems platforms that, when appropriate, allow the company to incorporate complementary technologies developed by third parties.
For instance, IBS has harnessed CyberCash's PayNow internet payment technology to process certain types of electronic payments. The IBS solution will also incorporate Open Financial Exchange server software technology developed by Just-In-Time Solutions.
Additional benefits of IBS' Electronic Billing Solution include:
-- Highly targeted, rules-driven electronic inserts, which enable targeted marketing campaigns; in addition, billers can access real-time statistics on the performance of those inserts, to better evaluate the return they are receiving from their marketing investment
-- Links to customer service operations, so exact images of customers' electronic statements are available to customer service representatives
-- Enabling of electronic payments, which eliminates much of the time and expense associated with traditional bill payment methods and eases the bill payment process for the consumers
-- Accounts receivable updates
"IBS long ago recognized the cost savings and marketing advantages that electronic statement delivery and payment can offer billers, and we've been actively involved in joint development efforts and pilot programs with other leaders in this field to refine our electronic presentment capabilities," said Randy Lintecum, president of IBS.
"Based on the success of our pilots, and the growing interest consumers have shown in this new technology, we decided the time is right to make this innovative service available to all companies who have a need to generate and send high volumes of statements.
"IBS is dedicated to getting the right bill to the right consumer at the right time, in the right format and through the right delivery service. We are the only statement processing company that can act as a single point of contact for any major company's billing statement needs -- electronic, paper-based or both," he concluded.
"In today's increasingly competitive environment, billers who can cost-effectively and efficiently offer their customers true choice in statement delivery and payment formats will have a tremendous advantage," said Dawne Chandler, vice president of electronic services for IBS.
"At IBS, we are proud of the role we are playing in the launch of this new era of statement delivery and payment. We intend to continue our development efforts so our customers will always have access to the most advanced statement processing solutions."
International Billing Services is the leading provider of complete statement processing solutions for the communications industry and is a USCS International company. USCS International offers customer management software and statement processing solutions to the global communications marketplace.
In the United States, the company currently serves 58 percent of all cable television subscribers, 39 percent of all cellular telephone subscribers and 11 percent of all landline telephone subscribers. USCS International's clients include providers of cable television, wireless and landline telephony, direct broadcast satellite and multiple communications services in the United States and 20 other countries.
More information on USCS can be found at www.uscs.com . |
