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Pastimes : Triffin's Market Diary -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Triffin who wrote (10)	3/15/1999 11:59:00 AM
From: Triffin	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 868

PICK: PTI @ 23 PTI is the 3rd largest credit card processor in the country..but the reason I own it is their push in RP or recurring payments. The whole concept of EBPP is of great interest to me as there is a huge incentive on the part of the 'biller' to do this..the problem has been to convince the 'customer' to allow someone 'direct debit' access to their checking accounts..I'm not keen on it myself..I understand the economics of EBPP but as the 'customer' I want to control when I pay and how much I pay..ie it's my choice not the billers..So far I see two 'customer friendly' choices..CKFR's model for EBPP .. and PTI's model where I as the customer can have my recurring payments automatically 'billed' to my credit card .. I still decide when and how much to pay .. ------------------------------------------------------------------ Paymentech, Inc., founded in 1985, provides full-service electronic payment solutions in merchant acquiring, third-party transaction processing and commercial card payment and information programs. The company processed approximately 2.2 billion total transactions and approximately $54 billion in sales volume during calendar 1998. Paymentech is the third largest processor of bankcard transactions and a leading issuer of commercial cards in the United States. Paymentech Recurring Payments Fact Sheet Recurring payments (RPs) account for over $500 billion in annual payments. Less than 2% is currently captured on cards. Approximately 5% of payments are made through direct debits of consumer checking accounts (Nilson Report, August 1996). According to a MasterCard survey, 93% of all recurring bills are paid by writing a check; however, 36% of consumers currently use some type of recurring payment for at least one bill. Automatic payment type preferences were -- -- automatic checking account debit (electronic check processing) -- automatic paycheck deduction -- credit card recurring Consumer Research -- 34% of consumers (not currently using) would prefer a recurring payment -- About one in four consumers (24%) mentioned they would switch to a competitor, where the option exists, if they could do automatic recurring payments. Benefits of RPs Merchants (service industry providers): -- secure transactions -- streamlined processing -- improved collections -- improved customer service and retention -- incremental sales Consumers: -- convenience, saves time and money -- option to revolve -- earn points in co-branded and frequency award programs SOURCE: Paymentech, Inc. EOM-----------------------------------------------------------------