Issue 4

For the past eight years, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has offered BPAY as a method of payment to both individuals and business operators. Within that time, this bill payment service has become the ATO's preferred method of payment, accounting for more than 39 per cent of all payments received by the Tax Office in the 07-08 financial year.

Recently BPAY and the ATO collaborated on a joint marketing campaign targeting sole operators and small business owners. The BPAY proposition of ease and convenience is particularly significant to these entrepreneurs, who are typically time-starved and more focused on the income earning aspects of their business.

The tactical timing of the activity centred on quarterly BAS payments due on October 28. Ten-second radio spots on the Australian Traffic Network in metro New South Wales, metro Queensland and metro Victoria, aired throughout the third week of October. Supporting the radio effort, an electronic direct mail was distributed on the 21st October to 31,000 small business owners.

The message across all media was a straight forward communication reinforcing BPAY's simplicity in meeting tax and GST obligations, encouraging small business operators to try this bill payment service.

Post-campaign analysis shows that BPAY payments to the ATO in October 2008 increased by 14 per cent compared to the same month last year.

This campaign serves as only one example of effective joint marketing activity that BPAY has undertaken with a biller. Other activities that billers can undertake include creating direct mail pieces, website banners, statement inserts, on hold messages, call centre activity, envelope messages and bill messages.

If a BPAY biller is interested in learning more about developing joint marketing activity, please contact BPAY marketing office via email: marketing@bpay.com.au.