With 70 per cent of Australian bill payers citing that they have used BPAY in the past 12 months, the consumer benefits are clear: The service's ease, convenience and security appeal to a bill payer's need for choice and control.

But what about businesses? How do BPAY and BPAY View improve both back office administration and front office customer service?

With more than 15,500 organisations offering BPAY and several new businesses to offer BPAY View even as we write this issue, the success of these services can be attributed to commercial common sense.

Let's first look at BPAY's benefits:

Cost Reduction: BPAY payments can reduce transaction costs and are easier to reconcile than other manual payments such as over the counter or cheque payments. These two benefits reduce administration time and collection costs.

Healthier Cash Flow: Manually processed payments or those in transit can impact the cash position of a business. Every business banking day, all BPAY payments, whether made via Internet or telephone banking, are deposited into your nominated account by your financial institution. In addition, a BPAY payment can only be made by a bill payer if funds are available. This means that the payment can never be dishonoured - unlike a cheque or credit card payment.

Improved Customer Service: Our research tells us unequivocally that consumers like using BPAY. It is easier and more convenient for your customers. By offering BPAY, companies can enhance their customer interactions. It's that simple.

Existing Infrastructure: Financial institutions provide the infrastructure that is required for customers to make BPAY payments, and therefore BPAY does not require an expensive overhaul of operational systems on the part of a business. And, since the majority of financial institutions offer BPAY, almost every customer has access to BPAY.

Introduced in 2002, BPAY View has become increasingly important as both businesses and consumers adopt the convenience of electronic transactions. Its business benefits include:

Statement Savings: When you present your bills to your customers electronically, there are significant reductions in costs associated with savings on paper, printing and postage. According to Dr Bruce McCabe in the report The Future of Business 2008 – 2018, by 2012 more than 60 percent* of bills will be presented and paid online.

Payment Savings: By presenting your bills electronically, you will encourage electronic payments that are less expensive than most other payment forms. And as listed above, a BPAY payment is easier to reconcile, which will reduce administration time and collection costs.

Improved Cash Receivables: According to Jupiter Research**, the use of online bill presentment services means businesses experience shorter payment cycles, as well as better debt recovery. This is primarily because customer's view and pay a bill as part of the same process, therefore encouraging consumers to pay outstanding bills more quickly.

Customer Service Savings: The advent of Electronic Billing has coincided with the growing trend towards offering customers a self service capability over the web. These self service web pages offer customers a range of options depending on the business' market area. Customers can be offered everything from product information, purchasing, delivery tracking, outstanding account information to maintenance of contact data.

Study results published in a number of countries have confirmed that customers who take up electronic billing and self service options use more services*** and have a higher customer satisfaction rating**** than other customers.

These "electronic" customers can deliver more sales and a lower administration cost to your business when they use BPAY View.

Less Risk: BPAY payments only ever deliver cleared funds, overnight and with no charge backs or dishonours, and consumers who use BPAY View are already using BPAY as well.

* S2 Intelligence, The Future of Business 2008 – 2018, How Information technology will Transform Industry, Organisations and Work, March 2008
** Jupitermedia, Online Bill Viewing and payment Forecast, 2004- 2009
*** Wells Fargo Article, American Banker February 2005
**** Michael Sainsbury, August 2005

With Prime Minister Rudd calling on Australians to build a national savings culture, the limelight shines optimistically on superannuation as a means to prepare financially for the future. And this proposal certainly includes increasing voluntary contributions.

"Our research indicates that customers are looking for convenient and simple payment choices - and this means an electronic option," says BPAY General Manager, Andrew Arnott. "This consumer trend is particularly relevant to superannuation funds that want to encourage their members to make additional contributions."

"With 70 per cent of bill payers having used BPAY in the past 12 months, Australians are familiar and comfortable with the service."

REST is one superannuation provider that is making the most of this familiarity to engage with its typically young members who have grown up with the Internet.

"Convenience and access are the drivers that encourage our members to connect with us," says REST CEO Damian Hill. "BPAY offers the simplicity and immediacy that facilitates individual member payments, which is particularly important for those who benefit from the government's co-contribution program."

Late last year, REST implemented a member competition to promote BPAY as its preferred payment method. BPAY payments by individual members rose significantly during this four-month marketing period, a level that has grown even more post-competition.

"We believe BPAY is the easiest way for our members to make voluntary contributions – so much so that we include BPAY payment details, such as our biller code and a member's customer reference number on our membership cards."

REST is among the 263 different super funds that offer BPAY. With its biller database growing by the day, BPAY is no longer simply a vehicle for paying 'recurring' bills such as the gas and electricity. Voluntary superannuation contributions are one of 15,500 payments that can be made via BPAY.

According to BPAY's 2007 Usage & Attitudes Study, almost one in five Australian biller payers used BPAY in the past 12 months to make travel and hotel bookings, and a further 43 per cent would consider using the bill payment service for hotel and travel payments.

Couple these findings with the steady increase in short term international departures, and it not surprising that first-class travel companies such as Qantas.com, Flight Centre and STA Travel are among the hundreds of travel-related providers that have experienced a significant growth in its BPAY payments over the past year.

Recent figures indicate an average three per cent month-on-month rise in Flight Centre's BPAY payments from January 2007 to January 2008. STA Travel's BPAY payments also increased by five per cent over this period.

Significantly, since Qantas.com began offering the BPAY option in April 2006, its BPAY payments have soared by an average 20 per cent each month.

"BPAY makes particular sense for the Aussie traveller," says Andrew Arnott, General Manager, BPAY. "When a consumer makes a BPAY payment from their savings or cheque account, they know they are not returning home to any credit card bills or accumulated debt."

"Additionally, consumers can avoid a credit card surcharge that is becoming increasingly common."

"The travel industry has already embraced the advantages of e-commerce, with the advent of paperless tickets and online check-in options," said Arnott. "And with more people using the Internet as a travel planning tool, it makes commercial sense for a company to offer their customers the BPAY payment choice."

Travel-related expenses, such as flights, traveller's cheques, phone cards, foreign currency exchange and travel insurance were among the more than 200 million BPAY payments worth over $11 billion made last year - more payments than any other bill payment service.

BPAY is an efficient and user-friendly solution for payment collection that provides benefits for not only the consumer, but for the biller as well, such as healthier cash flow, cleared funds overnight and improved customer relations.

The 2007 Usage & Attitudes Study revealed that consumers wanted to use BPAY for a broader range of payments, but they were not aware that BPAY was an option.

In response, BPAY developed the 'A to Z of Payments' concept to build familiarity with the array of organisations that offer BPAY. Slated to appear in market in July 2008, the advertising campaign's objective is to increase payment volume in new biller categories.

Underscored by the brand's subtle sense of humour first detected in the award-winning 'Why Do Things the Hard Way' concept, this campaign will utilise an innovative, multi-media approach to communicate nationally with a broad demographic of Australian bill payers.

Entitled 'BPAY. Virtually Anything', the images will highlight seemingly disparate items to create a tableau of products and services that can be paid via BPAY. These absorbing pictures will be featured in outdoor advertising, newspapers and online. Additionally, the advertising will be supported by PR activity.

For businesses that want to further drive their BPAY payments, the campaign can be tailored via statement inserts, website banners and online messages. To learn more about the campaign or to get involved, please contact your Account Manager at your bank.

With a tagline of 'Printed Statements Waste More Than Just Paper', BPAY is giving BPAY View businesses the opportunity to incorporate this campaign into their consumer marketing activities. The campaign promotes the service's benefits, such as saving time, energy and the environment.

Launched in late May, the campaign is running in collaboration with BPAY View businesses, who have been provided with a direct mail piece and a CD containing campaign collateral, allowing them to simply add their logo for their own customer communications activity. Additionally, depending on take up the campaign may be supported with online advertising.

Adding weight to the environmental benefits of BPAY View, BPAY recently commissioned Planet Ark to conduct an audit around the resources consumed and the emissions associated with paper production and utilisation.

These figures form the basis of the BPAY View Paper Saver Calculator. Hosted on the BPAY website, this calculator takes a retrospective look at the service's ecological savings, highlighting what has been achieved by BPAY View biller or by BPAY as a whole in 2007.

Additionally, consumers can calculate their future ecological savings by entering their specific bill circumstances – for instance the bills they would like to receive online from the list of BPAY View businesses and over what period of time – to determine the long term green savings they can achieve by receiving their bills via BPAY View.

BPAY is also able to build a customised calculator for individual BPAY View businesses should this be requested, which would be hosted on their website.

For more information on this advertising campaign or to participate in the program, please contact the BPAY Marketing department (02 8252 0500).

Every bill or invoice that offers BPAY as a payment method includes a Biller Code and a Customer Reference Number (CRN).

The Biller Code refers to the business unit to which a person is making a payment. For instance a telecommunications company, a local council or a utility company would each have its own Biller Code, and this number remains constant from one bill to the next.

The CRN, however, identifies a particular customer and their BPAY payment made to an organisation. Depending on the business, the CRN can remain constant for each customer or change from bill to bill.

Generated by each business, the CRN relates to the customer’s account number or invoice number. To ensure that a CRN is entered correctly every time a BPAY payment is made, it is validated at the business’ financial institution for its length and format, using a Check Digit – a part of the CRN.

Additionally, a biller can create specific validation requirements within the CRN, if necessary. For example, when making a BPAY payment a biller may require the first six digits of the CRN to match the first six digits of the customer’s account number with the biller.

This means the process of checking payments can be fully automated, therefore, minimising mistaken payments.

The CRN is one of the reasons why the reconciliation of a BPAY payment is so simple.

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