|
ABA Banking Journal
Fiserv Fiserv, Inc.
launched E-bill Introduction, a new feature within the CheckFree RXP
payment suite, which offers consumers an opportunity to receive
electronic bills via their online banking service for an introductory
period during which they also continue to receive paper bills in the
mail.
In pilots of the feature conducted with five financial institutions,
consumers enrolled in the pilot activated three times more ebills than
consumers who were not enrolled.
Lack of awareness about ebills, which contain the same information as
paper bills and are delivered through the online banking or company
websites where many consumers already pay their bills, has been a
stumbling block to adoption. According to the 2011 Fiserv Consumer Trends Survey, 30% of consumers who pay bills online do not know if their financial institution offers ebills.
To address this, E-Bill Introduction relies on a popular retail
marketing concept known as tryvertising to increase consumer awareness
and familiarity with e-bills. Tryvertising enables consumers to try a
new product or service before committing to purchase or use it. An
example is satellite radio, which is included for free for a set time
period with many new vehicle purchases.
Similarly, E-Bill Introduction uses a 90-day introductory period to
enable consumers who already pay their bills electronically to
experience receiving ebills at their financial institution firsthand.
During this 90-day period the consumer receives an ebill via online
banking and a traditional paper bill in the mail. Following the trial
period consumers can opt to continue receiving e-bills and turn off
their paper bill, or the ebill will be discontinued and the consumer
will continue to receive a paper bill.
"While electronic bill payment has become a mainstream service, ebill
usage has lagged, despite the fact that consumers say they are
interested in receiving e-bills," says Mary Beth Lawson, vice president
of product management, Electronic Payments, Fiserv. "With E-bill
Introduction, Fiserv is adapting proven practices from outside the
financial services industry to overcome hurdles to adoption.
Introductory periods have been successful in driving adoption of many
consumer services, and they have significant potential to drive {tag e-bill
adoption} as well."
A series of pilots of E-bill Introduction, which included more than
395,000 electronic bill payment users at five financial institutions,
showed that an introductory period can have a significant impact on
e-bill adoption:
• Consumers enrolled in the pilot program activated three times more e-bills than consumers who were not enrolled.
• Seventy four percent of pilot participants who activated an e-bill via E-bill Introduction were first-time e-bill users.
• Nearly 70% of pilot participants who activated an ebill via E-bill
Introduction activated at least one additional e-bill; on the average,
two additional e-bills were activated.
Encouraging e-bill adoption and usage is important for financial
institutions, as consumers who receive e-bills report being more
satisfied and less likely to switch to another institution due to their
use of the service. Consumers who receive e-bills have a service
satisfaction rate near 90%, and 69% of recipients cite convenience as a
reason they chose to receive ebills.
"Consumers who receive ebills value the convenience of receiving and paying their bills in one place," says Lawson.
E-bill Introduction is a standard feature of CheckFree RXP, available
through the more than 3,600 financial institutions that offer the
service. CheckFree RXP enables consumers to receive and pay bills
online, as well as transfer funds and make expedited payments, at their
financial institution website. Ebills for more than 400 common household
bills such as utility, mobile phone, and credit card bills are
available via the service.
More information on the tryvertising concept and the E-Bill Introduction pilot results is available in the free white paper, Ushering in the E-Bill Age: Driving Adoption through Financial Institution Websites.
[This article was posted on July 2, 2012, on the website of ABA Banking Journal, www.ababj.com.] |
(0 vote)
