This week's highlighted research:

TowerGroup. "Shattering the myths surrounding biller-direct."



Forrester Research. "Finally, a single EBPP network for Canada."



Research and Markets. "Online bill payment: The road to increased profits."

I don't enjoy getting bills in the mail. Getting bills in my e-mail is no different. Now, the industry is all excited about online bill presentment, which is at its essence, a way for companies to send me those bills and get my money even faster. Good for the billers I suppose, but I can't see why consumers would welcome it--after all, it completely eliminates the possibility of giving out the old "the check's in the mail" excuse. Nonetheless, for those who are perhaps more responsible than I, and pay all their bills as soon as they receive them, online bill pay can arguably be a good thing for both sides.

There are two different approaches to online billing. The biller direct method allows consumers to view and pay bills directly at the Web sites of credit card companies, utilities, or other billers, and the consolidator model, often provided by banks as a service to their customers, lets consumers pay bills from multiple billers in the same online location.

Biller-direct sites have become very successful. TowerGroup takes a look at some of the myths that have led to the success of this model. Consumers tend to believe that when they make a payment at a biller-direct site, that payment is immediately credited to their accounts. Other myths include the belief that consumers can pay their bills by credit card at these sites, that the service is free, and that it offers more functionality than consolidator sites. In reality, TowerGroup discovered that only 31 percent of biller-direct sites post payments to customer accounts on the same day payment has been made, and average posting time is about the same as with consolidator billing sites. Also, only about a third of biller-direct sites allow credit card payments. And while online bill payment is often promoted as free, many billers are beginning to recognize that they can charge for additional services, such as same-day posting.

Again, I don't quite get the wisdom of paying for the privilege of giving somebody my money, but it does seem to be gaining momentum. But according to Forrester, the Canadians "get it," and the presence of a single electronic bill payment and presentment network in Canada has gone a long way to make online billing more widely accepted by consumers. The acquisition by Canada Post's epost service of its rival webdoxs finally gives Canadians the ability to receive over 70 percent of their bills online.

Research and Markets points out in its report that the average US household spends more than $70 a year in postage paying bills, underscoring what is probably the main reasons consumers like the idea--convenience. This report also takes a detailed look at online billing both as a means for billers to get paid faster, and also as an opportunity for third parties such as banks--who have come to realize that their online customers are more profitable than their offline ones.

Savings billers realize just in mailing costs, as well as the added benefit of receiving payments on an accelerated basis--not to mention, the faster processing of electronic money as opposed to paper checks--will make the widespread adoption of online billing inevitable. Guess I'll have to start telling those bill collectors, "The check's in the e-mail."

ITworld.com

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