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Thursday, December 24, 2009

Billing & Payment Options: Driving Customers Paperless

Billing & Payment Options: Driving Customers Paperless
In the past 5 to 10 years, billing and bill payment options have grown tremendously. The emergence of the internet and the extent to which it has infiltrated our everyday lives has been the greatest contributing factor to this change. The world of bill presentment has gone from paper bills delivered via snail mail to email, mobile phone and website/portal delivery. Along with billing, payment options have grown as well. Gone are the days of paying in person or my mail via check or money order. Now, most transactions are done online via check, debit or credit card or electronic funds transfer. In just these last 5 to 10 years, these changes in billing and payment options have changed the way both businesses and individuals handle their bills.
While there has been a tremendous amount of resistance to this change in billing and bill payment, most consumers are now beginning to open their minds to the options. The benefits of online bill payment are now widely understood by consumers. According to a recent study conducted by the Marketing Workshop and Harris Interactive, four out of five households with internet access now use online banking services. And according to Forrester Research, the total number of U.S. online bill payment households will increase from 48 million to 63 million over the next 5 years. It seems that consumer adoption is becoming the real driving force in pushing companies to adopt Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) programs. Historically, many businesses have dragged their feet at the idea, but with customers pushing for increased efficiency and ease of bill payment, those companies had no other option.

The mobile banking services market is quickly becoming the next step in eBilling. It is expected to grow 10 times by 2011. Most of this growth is anticipated to take place in China, India and Western Europe, but there is still some expected growth in the US market. Therefore, many companies are arming themselves with the mobile bill payment tools they need to service their international customers in the short-run and their US customers as they slowly move toward mobile banking.

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