Fiserv Intros eBILLPLACE.com

Fiserv Inc., a provider of information technology services to the financial services industry, has introduced its eBILLPLACE.com Web site.

 

eBILLPLACE is designed to help consumers find answers to their questions about online banking and bill payment.

 

CheckFree (News - Alert), now part of Fiserv, has hosted consumer education sites since 1999. These sites benefit the financial services industry and answer consumer questions about online banking, electronic billing and payments.

The current site, launched in 2005, now provides even more tools to enable customers to begin receiving and paying bills online at “bank and biller” Web sites.

 

Electronic bills, or e-bills, are online versions of paper bills that are delivered directly to a financial institution’s or billing company’s Web site through secure methods. Consumers can visit these Web sites to login in, view the details and schedule payments.

Compared to dropping a check in the mail, consumers that pay online are assured that their payment arrives by the date they specify. They also have the ability to set up e-mail reminder alerts and other convenience features, including viewing payment history online around-the-clock.

“We wanted to make eBILLPLACE an engaging user experience and a site where anybody can learn about the many benefits of online bill pay and e-bills,” said Jardon Bouska, division president of Fiserv Electronic Biller Services. “E-bills and payments tie directly to some of the important issues we are all facing today, such as how to save money in a tough economy and conserve natural resources for future generations. Although it may seem like a small step to take, receiving and paying bills online can make a big difference in reducing a household’s carbon footprint.”

The eBILLPLACE Web site now features such tools as an environmental savings calculator, cost and time savings calculator, bank and biller search capabilities, expert advice on security and a bill pay personality quiz.

Fiserv is a sponsor of the PayItGreen Alliance, a coalition of financial service companies led by NACHA that was formed to educate consumers and businesses about the positive environmental impact of choosing electronic payments, bills and statements instead of paper.

As a consumer that prefers electronic billing to paper bills, the benefits that electronic billing provide far outweigh that of the paper variety, as far as I am concerned. But, my tendency towards the electronic option is more out of convenience than an attempt to be “green.”

Research has shown that while consumers, as a whole, care about the environment, this is not a strong enough reason for them to make a change in their billing habits, especially one where they perceive that their information or their identity might be at risk.