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Discussing the entire presentment and payment market is beyond the scope of one article. Here we discuss payment options, but presentment is no less complex. Here are some things to consider:
The three primary models are the biller-direct model, the consolidator model and the syndication model.
In the biller-direct model, billers build their own infrastructures for converting billing data and host their own Web sites for presenting bills to customers and accepting payments. This approach makes especially good sense for B2B billing. Implementing the biller-direct model typically requires the use of billing software from vendors such as Avolent (formerly Just In Time Solutions), CheckFree i-Solutions (formerly BlueGill Technologies) and edocs, and the integration of payment services from third parties, such as the vendors profiled in this article. Recently, a host of service bureaus has emerged to outsource biller-direct implementations for billers. For example, Billserv.com, Derivion, YourAccounts.com, Pitney Bowes and others can provide data conversion, bill presentment, site hosting, payment processing and other services for billers.
In the consolidator model, a consolidator site acts as an aggregator for the bills from multiple billers. The idea is to give payers a single site for paying multiple bills--a key requirement in the B2C market. Some consolidators (known as "thick consolidators") serve up complete bill detail data, while others (known as "thin consolidators") provide only summary data or total amount due, with links back to the biller's site for the details.
The leading consolidators are CheckFree and TransPoint (which CheckFree recently acquired). Banks are also entering the market as consolidators in an effort to remain in the center of their customers' financial transactions. One example is Spectrum LLC (a joint venture initiated by Chase Manhattan Bank, First Union and Wells Fargo), which plans to launch a hub that will let biller members route e-bills through a single connection to other members, who in turn deliver the e-bills to customers for payment with their own institutions. The group has yet to put a management team in place and is not yet in production.
In addition, a number of consumer-focused consolidators, such as PayMyBills.com, PayTrust.com and StatusFactory.com, have emerged. With these services, consumers pay a monthly fee to have all their bills sent to the service, where the bills are scanned and posted to a secure Web site for viewing and payment. These low-tech alternatives have proven popular with consumers, especially with fees as low as a few dollars per month and free trial periods.
In the syndication model, billers make their bills available to a wide array of distribution points. These can include traditional consolidators, consumer-service providers and consumer portals, like America Online, Yahoo and online banking sites. This approach gives billers the best chance of reaching the widest audience of payers. Again, the syndication approach makes the most sense for B2C applications in which consumers may want flexibility in how they access bills. However, the model will soon become a factor for B2B applications in which the biller sells products through multiple channels (such as through its own site, as well as through online markets and trading hubs) and thus wants to conduct billing and payment through those same channels.
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