prnewswire.com
New Pilot Billers and Processors Represent Approximately Two Billion of All
Bills Sent to U.S. Consumers Annually
DENVER, June 15 /PRNewswire/ -- MSFDC, the joint venture of Microsoft
Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) and First Data Corp., today announced that some of the
largest billers and bill processors in the country are participating in a
pilot program that will enable their customers to receive and pay customized
bills over the Internet. MSFDC has also expanded its Systems Integrators
program, signing up new companies to give billers and bill processors more
choice in implementing its service.
The newly signed billing companies include Arizona Public Service Co.,
Browning Ferris Industries (BFI), Comcast Cellular Communications Inc.,
Consolidated Edison Company of New York, en.able, Mobil Corp., Nevada Power
Co., Southern California Edison Co. and Xerox Corp. Newly signed bill
processors include Billing Concepts Corp., CableData Inc., International
Billing Services, Moore Business Communication Solutions and Vestcom
International Inc. New participants in MSFDC's Systems Integrator program
include American Management Systems Inc., BancTec and Corillian Corp.
"The rapid growth of our biller pilot program reflects the high level of
support and momentum for MSFDC's integrated system," said Darren Remington,
co-president of MSFDC. "Adding new billers and financial institutions is key
to our growth strategy in the months ahead, as we help them to lower customer
service costs while enhancing their customer relationships."
"As one of the nation's largest utilities, Southern California Edison
firmly believes it is important to satisfy our customers' desire for secure,
convenient, state-of-the-art payment options," said Bill Reinhold, director of
mass markets for Southern California Edison. "With MSFDC's innovative
solution, we expect to meet our customers' needs and enhance the quality of
cutting-edge services and products that they have come to expect from us."
Benefits for Billers
Billers using the MSFDC service will benefit from a variety of services
that give them complete control and efficiency in bill delivery and
collection. These include returning error-free remittances, retaining full
control of the bill's image and design, and providing flexible payment
options.
"Our strength as a leading waste services company and our brand identity
are indivisible," said Sandy Glatzau, senior vice president, marketing and
sales at BFI. "With MSFDC, we control bill format and content and enhance our
brand identity in bringing this new level of value and convenience to our
customers."
Billers pay MSFDC a fee, roughly equivalent to the cost of postage, to
deliver an electronic version of a bill or statement to their customers. For
no additional cost, MSFDC also returns the payment and remittance information
(such as a bill stub) to the biller or the biller's bank, which can integrate
this service with other treasury or cash management functions.
"We believe MSFDC's Internet bill delivery solution is the right model for
home banking consumers," said Gary Groscup, vice president of customer
operations at Consolidated Edison. "It provides added value for our customers
and it's an environmentally efficient way of reducing the paper-waste stream.
We are very pleased to be part of this promising pilot."
To date, several of the nation's top-ranked financial institutions are
distributing bills with the MSFDC pilot program, including Banc One Corp.,
KeyBank, Merrill Lynch, Norwest Corp. and Wells Fargo.
MSFDC -- Empowering an Industry
The joint venture between Microsoft and First Data is a marriage of
competencies that combines the nation's leaders in technology and financial
transaction processing.
"Our MSFDC relationship assures our customers access to an essential new
bill delivery and payment technology," said Dawne Chandler, vice president,
electronic services for International Billing Services. The MSFDC service is a
strong complement to IBS' range of value-added statement processing solutions,
which includes full-featured electronic bill presentment and payment."
MSFDC's electronic bill presentment and payment business model was
specifically designed so that all key constituents -- billers, financial
institutions, system integrators and consumers -- can benefit from cost
savings, control and convenience. MSFDC is currently in pilot with its
billers, bill processors and financial institutions and plans to launch the
service commercially toward the end of the year.
About MSFDC
Based in Denver, MSFDC is a joint venture of Microsoft Corp., the
worldwide leader in software for personal computers, and First Data Corp., a
leading provider of transaction and information-based services that processes
more than 9 billion transactions annually. Formed in June 1997, MSFDC is
scheduled to introduce the nation's first end-to-end system for electronic
presentment of richly formatted bills over the Internet, as well as
next-generation electronic payment and remittance capabilities later this
year. For more information on MSFDC, visit its Web site at
msfdc.com.
NOTE: Microsoft is either a registered trademark or trademark of
Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries. Other product and
company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
SOURCE MSFDC
Web Site: microsoft.com
CONTACT: David Heinsch of Shandwick, 612-832-5000, or
dheinsch@shandwick.com, for MSFDC
NOTE TO EDITORS: If you are interested in viewing additional
information on Microsoft, check out the Microsoft Web page at
microsoft.com on Microsoft's corporate
information pages. If you are interested in viewing additional
information on First Data, check out the First Data Web page at
firstdatacorp.com |
