Bpay Wants To Make Bill-paying Available Online
Sydney Morning Herald
Thursday July 15, 1999
The BPay electronic bill payment system, which is said to be used by more than 1.5 million Australians, is looking for a technology partner so that it can put the bills online as well as the payment processing.
BPay is a national service operated for 13 Australian banks, including the Big Four, plus credit unions and building societies.
More than 1,100 organisations accept BPay electronic payments, but at the moment none can present the bills via the Internet.
BPay users still get a paper bill in the post, which they can then either pay on the phone or, if they are online banking users, via their bank's Web site.
When the bills are available online, there will be no more paperwork for them or the biller, saving the biller about one quarter of the costs of bill printing, distribution and postage, according to BPay chairwoman Ms Diane Sias.
Presenting bills online is potentially also much cheaper than setting up a 1300 number for customers.
Under the current system, BPay charges the member banks an undisclosed sum for every transaction.
Banks usually recoup the cost from the billing company.
Ms Sias predicted that that system would remain the same online and that bill payers would not face any new charges.
BPay claims that more than 400 million bills are produced in Australia each year, 65 per cent of them coming from just 5 per cent of businesses.
Worldwide, about 60 billion repetitive bills are generated and, according to research firm Killen and Associates, a third could be presented online by 2005.
Ms Sias estimated that about 175,000 Internet users are registered for Internet banking and that about half have used BPay-type services.
By far the majority of BPay customers come from the estimated 6.5 million Australians who are registered for phone banking.
From some time in the first quarter next year, Internet users will get a reminder from their bank or billing company that a bill is due for payment.
They will be able to go to their bank's Web site, enter their BPay ID and password, and will be presented with electronic versions of all due bills.
Ms Sias said that BPay was talking to various online-solution providers.
The overseas market leaders include software giant Oracle and First Data Resources, both of which have a strong presence in Australia.
In the US, First Data has been working with Microsoft for more than a year to develop systems for presenting and paying bills.
The joint venture was expected to be launched in Australia this year.
First Data Resources Australia is expected to make a significant investment announcement today.
© 1999 Sydney Morning Herald
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