Issue 6

In recognition of the growing importance of innovative 'on-the-go' banking options to customers, Australian banks have increasingly turned their focus towards the development of full service portable platforms such as mobile banking. Such platforms make it even easier for consumers to access their mobile banking site and subsequently make online bill payments via BPAY.

The spotlight on portable banking has been driven by the launch of mobile banking platforms from a number of major financial institutions, with many others knee deep in the planning phase.

In most cases, the mobile banking platforms on offer are effectively a 'light' version of each banks' full service online banking platform, covering the online functions most used by bank customers. Recognising the importance of online bill payment for customers, the majority of banks that have launched the service have included BPAY as a primary function of their mobile proposition.

"An online bill payment function such as BPAY is fundamental to having a true end to end mobile proposition," explains a senior executive from one of Australia's major financial institutions.

"By offering BPAY, we ensure businesses and consumers alike are able to take advantage of a truly self-service platform," they said.

Given the changing face of local and international business and the growing need for portable banking options, it is predicted that full service mobile banking platforms will soon become standard across all financial institutions. This is good news for Billers looking to take full advantage of the benefits offered by BPAY.

According to the banks, the primary advantages of the BPAY mobile application can be closely tied to the core benefits of the Scheme itself - ease and convenience.

The advantages to Billers are multi-faceted. One particular example is the likely reduction in missed payment deadlines, thanks to greater consumer flexibility over how and when bill payments are made. This reduction will provide significant cost and administrative benefits to Billers, which is particularly good news for those operating small to medium businesses that have little resources to spend on time-consuming back end tasks.

In addition, a much wider group of customers using BPAY will confirm to billers the existing benefits of BPAY, such as the ability to offer greater choice for consumers, a reduced risk of dishonoured payments and simplified reconciliation processes.

"The launch of mobile banking is a positive development for both businesses and consumers, and something we've always viewed as inevitable," said BPAY CEO Andrew Arnott.

"Expanding access to electronic payment options across new platforms such as mobile not only allows businesses to keep up with the demands of consumers, but ensure they make the most of the financial and administrative benefits of BPAY," he said.

BPAY Billers interested in finding out more about the advantages of mobile banking should contact their financial institution directly.

BPAY's e-presentment service BPAY View continues to gain momentum in 2009, with an increasing number of Billers adopting the service to meet consumer demands for a simple, environmentally friendly way to receive bills.

In the initial stages following its introduction in 2002, the majority of BPAY View Billers were utilities and telecommunications companies. Now as the service continues to mature, the range of Billers has widened to include less traditional areas such as transport and distribution.

One of the most recent companies to offer BPAY View is the Australian and international freight services company TNT Australia, who launched the service in October 2008 across two Biller codes, TNT Express and Riteway Express.

A BPAY Biller since February 2004, TNT saw BPAY View as a natural progression to its existing online services, and a way to extend its promotion of electronic options for invoice presentation and payment. The service was also seen to be a close fit with the environmental management approach of the global company.

According to General Manager of Administration Gerald O'Sullivan, the decision to implement BPAY View was largely driven by TNT's desire to take advantage of the speed and convenience benefits offered by the service.

"Unlike traditional household bills, which are usually distributed to a captive audience according to a monthly or quarterly schedule, we invoice weekly and often our small to medium size customers trade less frequently," he said.

"By facilitating prompt online presentment and providing an easy link to online payment, BPAY View provides us with a streamlined invoice process from start to finish for all our customers," Mr O'Sullivan said.

From a customer perspective, the BPAY View service also simplifies the payment process by providing a direct web link from the TNT invoice to the payment section of their individual e-banking site, automatically populating the page with the correct bill data.

"For TNT and Riteway, each new weekly invoice contains a new reference number, and as our reference numbers are 15 characters, there is always a possibility that customers may complete their payment details incorrectly" said Mr O'Sullivan.

"By linking to a pre-populated bill payment form, BPAY View helps to significantly reduce the amount of time and money we spend on payment reconciliation," he said.

The service also extends the administrative benefits of the primary BPAY Scheme by providing TNT with customer data files in a simple, electronic format.

According to Mr O'Sullivan, TNT sees BPAY View as a central part of its commitment to electronic services and has taken a long-term, holistic view towards customer take-up.

"TNT initially set quite conservative targets for BPAY View take-up in order to give ourselves time to properly establish and market the product, however preliminary results show that we will easily exceed these targets," he said.

"We expect that regular promotion of TNT's range of e-solutions across the board will prompt more and more of our customers to make the move to electronic invoice presentment and payment."

If a BPAY Biller is interested in learning more about BPAY View or potential joint marketing opportunities, please contact BPAY marketing office via email: marketing@bpay.com.au.

For further information about TNT Express visit www.tnt.com.au

BPAY has launched its latest national marketing campaign which will run in the media from March to June 2009.

The quirky marketing campaign will be seen on bus sides and online for three months, and promotes BPAY's core benefits of ease and control, factors which are increasingly important to consumers given today's uncertain economic climate.

The recent Hard Ways Campaign adapted the initial marketing creative from the payments campaign developed in 2006, and introduced additional concepts for online activity with the aim of driving greater payment volumes across all BPAY Billers.

Initial results show the campaign has started to great success, and BPAY expects the final post-campaign evaluation to be similarly positive.

In addition to paid media, BPAY also developed a range of marketing collateral including DL flyers, A2 posters, online banners, IVR messaging, newsletter and website copy and statement messages to encourage greater awareness and use of the BPAY service. All marketing materials are available to Billers for use in customer communications.

If any Biller is interested in learning more about upcoming activity or participating in the current campaign, please contact the BPAY Marketing Department at marketing@bpay.com.au.

The results of BPAY's 2008 annual Usage and Attitude Study show that BPAY remains the preferred choice for Australian bill payers, over other methods such as in-person and direct debit.

As an alternate form of electronic funds transfer, Pay Anyone does share some similarities with BPAY. However there are a number of key differences separating the two, most significantly related to reconciliation and security.

The table below provides a broad comparison of the two payment methods.

An e-billing strategy is a core component of e-commerce, and is generally typified by the replacement of paper bills with electronic. BPAY's environmentally friendly e-billing service BPAY View, allows billers to offer an easy, secure way for their customers to receive paperless bills.

The implementation of a successful e-commerce strategy delivers a number of cost advantages to billers, three primary areas of which are:

1. Lower distribution costs. Electronic bills can be up to 50 per cent cheaper than traditional paper bills thanks to savings on paper, printing and postage.
2. Lower transaction costs. Electronic bills encourage payment through electronic systems such as BPAY, the transaction costs of which are usually significantly less than manual or over the counter payments. The majority of BPAY payments are also made from a debit account, which generally translates into lower transaction fees payable to the bank that provides the BPAY service to the Billers (this compares to the general approach to credit card payments where fees payable depend on the value of the individual payment made).
3. Lower staffing costs. When combined with the introduction of consumer self-service facilities, the increase in e-billing volumes helps reduce the level of billing and address related queries to call centres. A reduction in call volumes can subsequently reduce staffing requirements and costs for consumer service centres.

These cost benefits are also typically accompanied by an improvement in overall consumer satisfaction, as customers welcome greater levels of convenience and flexibility in Biller interactions.