Convenience Accelerates EBPP; Paper Reduction Stalls

This is good for companies such as Regulus as service providers look to them for payment processing, but it can’t continue if service providers are going to be the lean competitive machines they need to be. In the meantime, Regulus is well-positioned as a company that processes both paper and electronic payments. Earlier this summer, the company introduced a solution capable of handling both from the same system. Its Regulus ePayments Suite can be used in collaboration with technology partnership ChoicePay to provide comprehensive ePayment services for direct billers and resellers, including payment channels for IVR, Web, CSR, walk-in and kiosks.

Forty-eight percent of payments were made by non-paper methods in 2007. That figure is expected to rise to 64 percent by 2011, according to a recent study conducted by Aité Group.

More on Mobile Banking

Fiserv, the parent company of CheckFree, agrees with Regulus on the growth of mobile banking, although their numbers are a little different. Where Regulus sees 57 percent of cell phone users paying bills electronically, Fiserv said that based on a survey of 1,007 U.S. consumers, 23 percent were using their mobile phones to conduct financial activities. While this may be an apples-to-oranges comparison, they both point to significant numbers of electronic transactions being conducted by users of mobile phones.

Thus, Fiserv announced this week that it launched an all-in-one mobile banking and payments solution called the Fiserv Mobile Money. The new solution supports short messaging service (SMS), wireless application protocol (WAP) and downloaded mobile applications; offers online and offline enrollment capabilities; and integrates with core banking, online banking and electronic payments systems.

The system is powered by technology from New Zealand-based Mobile Commerce Ltd. (M-Com). It is designed to allow financial institutions and billing organizations (such as service providers) to drive enrollment of offline customers to a more profitable mobile banking relationship. It can integrate with various core banking systems, online banking systems and electronic payments systems. It also leverages a financial institution's or biller's existing online security infrastructure, including existing credential management capabilities.

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