When the United Illuminated company (UI) launched its electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) capability four years ago, we were considered a pioneer, both in our industry and in our region. The technology that enabled Internet billing was just emerging, and there were no pre-established rules for us to follow. So we were guided more by a vision of the future than by concrete data on which approach worked best.
But we established three key goals to guide our efforts and have achieved, or made significant progress toward, achieving all three. Our goals are to provide our customers with added convenience, choice and enhanced services; to leverage our commitment to our existing paper-based billing processes so as to minimize the need for additional cost or complexity; and to transform our Web site from an "information" only destination into an interactive e-commerce site.
And I am proud to say that our EBPP initiative is paying off nicely, especially as we have expanded our capabilities and deepened our understanding of the technology and the role of e-commerce. And because scores of others in our industry and elsewhere are still undecided about EBPP, we are building a formidable competitive edge!
Convenience and Choice
There is no doubt that consumers everywhere like convenience and choice, even when it comes to routine matters like receiving and paying bills. In fact, our EBPP customers have told us overwhelmingly that they like the convenience of not having to write checks or stamp and stuff envelopes, and they particularly like knowing their payments are being handled automatically and with virtually no chance for delay or error.
In an early survey of users, more than 96% said they felt the Internet transactions were secure and the service met their needs. But our expectations at UI were much higher. Internet billing, by its very nature, is convenient and has an inherent advantage over the traditional pen, paper, envelope, stamp and check-writing process. So we wanted to make sure that every aspect of our Internet billing and payment process was both easy to use and offered as much choice to our customers as possible.
Easy Enrollment
For example, enrolling in our service is easy. It takes only a few minutes and requires no more detail than existing automated payment or pay-by-phone services. Plus, the use of account and personal identification numbers assures confidentiality of all transactions.
Part of the credit for the fast and easy enrollment goes to our consumers, who are technologically savvy. But part also goes to the "crystal clear" sign-up procedures, which were worked and reworked by specialists from both UI and Pitney Bowes docSense, which is hosting our Internet billing service. The firm is also handling our paper-based billing on an outsourced basis.
Once enrolled, UI customers are alerted via e-mail when their bills are posted to our Web site, and then they are able to access their bills at their convenience, review them for accuracy and authorize payment, which is accomplished electronically at the end of every business day.
But as much as we wanted our customers to use our Web site, we didn't want to force them to relinquish any automated payment preferences they may have already established, which is another reason we choose this particular solution. Our partner, Pitney Bowes docSense, is also a Premier Certified Partner of CheckFree, a leading provider of electronic billing and payment services. And the relationship with CheckFree provides UI with two key benefits.
First, it provides our customers with greater choice by giving them the option of viewing and paying their UI bills via CheckFree's extensive network of partners and consumer service providers, which includes banks, brokerage firms, Internet portals and content sites and personal financial management software.
Second, it means that these two firms share technology, so the additional distribution channels can be activated quickly without disruption to existing electronic or paper-based billing processes. In effect, the expanded distribution can be added with little more than a flip of the switch.
New Features, Enhanced Services
We've also bolstered our EBPP service with new features. For example, our customers wanted a direct-deposit option, which allows them to select in advance a specific day for automatic payments to be made, and a variable-payment option, which allows them to make multiple payments, to pay in advance or to vary the amount paid.
The variable-payment option also allows our customers to contribute to UI's popular Operation Fuel program, which provides funding for low- or fixed-income customers who are struggling to pay winter heating bills.
Additionally, the electronic-billing option has been expanded to permit customers are able to view their billing histories online and manage their account data themselves for example, to change e-mail or bank information, eliminating the need to call UI's customer-service center.
UI is adding still more enhancements to make the service more helpful and to attract new users. The service now supports a single log-in for multiple accounts, for example, so a landlord can log-in once and pay a multiple number of tenant accounts.
UI also offers a "view-only" option for consumers who already use a pay-by-phone service. These consumers can be alerted to the availability of their bills via e-mail, view their bills online and still use the pay-by-phone service as they have in the past.
Customers using our EBPP option respond to bills faster than ever before. In fact, our EBPP customers are making payments an average of nine days sooner. That's nearly twice as fast as their response rate using the traditional, or paper-based, mail format.
Regardless of the benefits of Internet billing that are related exclusively to the print/mail finishing center, which include a lower cost to distribute bills along with their near-instantaneous delivery, there are significant business-related benefits as well.
These include the cost savings that come from the automated handling of remittances, the cash-flow benefits that come from faster receipt of payments and the stronger customer relationships and added sales that can result when electronic messages are tailored to individual preferences via hot links, banner ads and attachments
In fact, the benefits that EBPP provides to the business as a whole probably outweigh the benefits it offers to just the print/mail finishing center alone, which can complicate the task of introducing the new technology, particularly if your print/mail finishing center operates in isolation from the main stream of the business.
At UI, we consider customer communications a vital and strategic part of our long-term success. It is a way to maintain an excellent rapport withcustomers, and it can serve as a closed-loop process to help streamline internal business processes. Our EBPP initiative fits the bill perfectly in both instances.
Shirley Dion is program manager of Process Improvement for United Illuminating Company. Readers can contact her at shirley.dion@uinet.com. For additional information on Pitney Bowes docSense or CheckFree, please visit www.pb.com.
