Posted by Jason Hachkowski on Fri, Aug 27, 2010 @ 02:42 PM
(Originally published in Canadian Treasury Magazine - February/March 2004)
Electronic Bill Payment is now an 18-year-old industry in Canada and has become a widely adopted method of paying most regular monthly bills. Electronic Bill Presentment is much newer and, so far, not widely adopted by billers or accepted by customers.
Economics dictate that both electronic bill payment and electronic bill presentment will be the way of the future. The savings in postage, paper and bank charges alone justify the cost of participation by both the biller and the payer. In fact, the Gartner Group suggests in a recent study that it can cost more than US$1.10 to produce and deliver a paper bill, but only US$0.44 or less for an equivalent electronic bill. Organizations that have pioneered the electronic bill presentment world have focused on one of two Web-based methodologies. In my view, a third, more efficient methodology based on e-mail makes sense. Payment of an e-mail bill can be effected with only minor changes to existing bill payment systems, is easily available to large and small businesses and provides for a reasonably secure method of direct communication between the biller and the bill payer, helping to maintain business relationships.
Such a method also results in a reduction in the ongoing overhead costs associated with Web-based systems, and so can significantly reduce the $0.44 cost per bill to but a fraction of that amount.
A comparison of these approaches is the subject of this paper.
Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) describe the process of delivering bills to customers and having them paid electronically. Generally speaking, the bills are presented as images on a website. They are accessible by the customer using a personal access code. Electronic bill presenters may be the billing company itself. Alternatively, the billing company may send its bills to an electronic bill presentment service, sometimes called a consolidator. Recipients of electronic bills also expect to be able to pay the bills electronically. That function is carried out by a bill payment service. A link from the presentment site to the payment service’s site may be provided by the presenter.
Problems that are occurring with implementation of bill presentment revolve around efforts by third parties to control both the presentment and the payment process. This causes concerns ranging from initial and ongoing cost to security for both biller and bill payer, not to mention a huge degree of complexity in linking together many disparate, different systems.
An alternative methodology involves e-mail presentment by the biller directly to an e-mail address specified by the bill payer. This method is relatively simple to implement and involves virtually no ongoing costs on the biller’s part.
All the biller has to do is obtain the e-mail address from the bill payer and incorporate it into its bill printing process. Software that will distribute forms by e-mail is available off the shelf. There are no serious security concerns, password access systems or history maintenance requirements.
Instinctively we know that electronic presentation of bills and invoices should be far less expensive then sending paper documents by mail. If payment can also be made electronically, the ultimate in efficiency and convenience can be achieved.
Problems have arisen with adoption of the concept – by biller and customers – because of the complexity and costs of various offerings. The basic problem has been the attempt to tie too tightly the presentment and the payment processes into one system. This introduces complexity into the solution and requires a third party processor, along with all the inherent costs, security issues and system complexity that this entails.
Accounting systems used by many small companies permit them to e-mail their bills. There is no third party involved. Security issues diminish. The biller does not need to maintain the outstanding file, history file or access controls. That is all managed from the customer’s own e-mail system. For customers who prefer a fax to e-mail, that option is offered too.
Recognizing this, TelPay is adapting its e-payment software and systems for businesses and individuals to provide similar efficiencies. Here are the options billers and customers have for participating in the emerging EBPP world. Our choice is the third one, but we need to understand the alternatives as well.
...to read the rest of the article, please go to:
http://www.telpay.ca/common/pdf/Cdn_Treasurer_Feb2004.pdf
Bill Loewen FCA, CM is the founder of Comcheq and a pioneer in the field of Electronic Payments. He is currently Chairman of TelPay Inc. in Winnipeg
(Originally published in Canadian Treasury Magazine - February/March 2004)
Posted by Jason Hachkowski on Thu, Apr 22, 2010 @ 01:59 PM
A blog entry on April 22nd couldn't really be anything other than a post related to how much we save the environment! Being the largest independent payment processing company in Canada, and a "Green" innovator in the world of electronic payments, one could imagine that we have a lot to talk about.
By eliminating paper cheques, TelPay estimates that in 2009, it was able to save:
- 77,500 kilograms of paper (171,000 lbs)
- Over 2000 trees
- 3.8 million pounds of greenhouse gases from being released
- Over six million litres of waste water from being discharged
- Eight dump trucks worth of waste from paper production
- Nearly 350,000 litres of gasoline from being consumed due to mailing bills, statements, and payments
(source: PayitGreen Business Calculator)
TelPay has been helping Canadian financial institutions such as CIBC, the Credit Unions, and businesses of all sizes to process electronically for the last 25 years. Having been the first Canadian company to do so, TelPay has made it possible for all these companies to process electronically.
The staff is also actively involved in ensuring that as a company we all do our part. Having a dedicated "Green Team" helps us to ensure that we keep moving in the right direction. The company has already implemented a recycling program, e-faxing, duplex printing, and paper/ink saving fonts to help save paper, and reduce TelPay's overall carbon footprint.
If you have any "green" initiatives that you would like to share with TelPay, we would love to hear from you! You can either comment in the form below, or send a email to us: webmarketing (at) telpay.ca