Thursday, October 29, 2009

"I don’t want to receive eBills"

This statement was recently made by a friend of mine.

My response: I am an avid believer in convenience. I receive electronic notifications for the majority of my financial transactions, and would like to eventually change that to ‘all’. I find billing information more accessible if it is deposited, as an electronic document, into my inbox, as I can easily search for any transaction based on date, amount, from which account it was paid, or to whom it was paid; or any other bit of data included in the email.

If I received a paper Bill, firstly I would have to make sure that I don’t misplace it; and then,if it did make it to my home filing ‘system’ (which is a box), it is not readily available – the box is only processed every six months or so, often just before filing season…

So for me, email is the ideal channel through which I can receive important documentation. I use different categories within my email to file the emails that I get. This means that my bank account emails are in a different category to the insurance emails, and so on. The email client I use has significant search functionality, so even if I place a file in the wrong category, this search functionality allows me to find it. It also means that if a category contains a lot of emails and I can’t immediately find files within that category, the search functionality is used.

Furthermore, the key advantage (and benefit) of using electronic filing is the convenience of being able to back up your information. Creating a back up for paper storage is tricky – you essentially need to duplicate your filing cabinet. By creating a back up of your electronic filing cabinet, storing it appropriately and keeping it up to date, your information is protected from most disasters.

In light of this overwhelming evidence, I asked my friend: “Why not? Look how easy it is.”

His response: “I don’t have a computer.”

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Why can't I opt out of getting a paper receipt?

The phenomenon known as eBilling, serves a certain sector within the Billing industry. Bills, accounts, statements and invoices are traditionally delivered to customers as and when they are required to action something, or following an action.

A gap in this market that has often irked me is the opportunity to tell the bank machine that I do not want a receipt. The bank sends me a statement, I can login to my internet banking as and when I like, and so I don't need to receive a silly little piece of paper that will only maximise the stretch capacity of my wallet and encourage me to investigate the purchase of a handbag. Next time you are at the ATM, have a look at the level of overflow from the disposal unit at the machine. How many ATM users have just thrown away their receipt?

Also, do I really need to get a receipt from the restaurant or shop when I swipe my credit card with the irritating pin? As the transaction goes through, and before it has been printed - I have already received an SMS with the transaction details. Is the slip really necessary? Can I not be given a choice before it is printed?

I do understand that there are people who do require those pieces of paper, and I do understand that some people need to be reminded of their balance at the end of the transaction. Is it not possible to have this information transfer digitised? Following a transaction, an ATM should prompt the user to select to have their receipt either printed, displayed or neither. Furthermore, following a transaction on an account, notification thereof could be delivered to the customer via email or SMS.

So while eBilling in the corporate world of billing is covered, the use of electronic notifications still has a way to go I think.

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Rising postal costs result in increased online usage, which again causes rising postal costs.

The United Kingdom (Dec 2008) and the United States (May 2009) both 'suffered' at the hands of their national mail carriers, as costs of first class mail increased.

Why the increase? The National Carriers are suffering revenue losses, as a result of the increased use of email and social networking. The postcard is a quaint relic from the past; pen-pals from even further back in time; love letters have become text messages; event invitations have become the doyen of Facebook, Google forms and the like.

The recent global financial strains have also forced organizations that communicate with their customers via 'snail' mail to investigate alternative channels of communication

The Striata Solution set is ideal for the abovementioned scenarios.

The eMarketing Suite provides significant functionality, which effectively facilitates the distribution of various communications to the client database. Provision is made for the collection of data at each point of contact, while the email content can be tailored to the particular client’s profile. Furthermore, the Striata Application Platform provides significant deliverability features and benefits.

The eBilling Suite is usually used to attach an encrypted document to an email. The encryption is built by either the Striata Encryption Engine, which stores the designated file in the proprietary Striata Reader (a file with the following file extension: .emc); or the Striata PDF engine, resulting in an encrypted PDF.

While these solutions do not assist the mail carriers in limiting their price increase, they do provide organizations that distribute paper based communication with an alternate delivery channel – one which is cost efficient, immediate, trackable and environmentally friendly (green).

So, it is inevitable, the mail carriers will continue to increase the postal rates to mitigate their loss, resulting in more and more organizations turning to electronic communication and delivery as an alternative option – this enables them to manage their communication initiatives, more efficiently and cost effectively.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Demystifying TransPromo

What is 'TransPromo' – a movie with Felicity Huffman?

No. The term is given to communication that provides the dual functionality of Transactional documentation and Promotional material; and it is used, most effectively, in the realm of electronic communication.

The biller asks: How can we apply it electronically?

You previously sent your bills / invoices / statements / etc by post and your marketing department came up with a great idea to send your latest promotions or specials in the same envelope. These were referred to as bill stuffers. Anyway, the point is that the recipient, received a nice bit of marketing delivered directly to them.

Now you use electronic document delivery, as the opportunity for cost saving, increased delivery rates and reduced days sales outstanding (DSO) convinced you that this was the right way to go (shameless plug). But your marketing department is far from impressed - how are they supposed to get their marketing material, that was traditionally the ‘bill stuffer’, to the consumer without ramping up their delivery costs?

The answer is simple - the cover letter of the email and the white space of the actual document provide the perfect opportunity for the marketing department to incorporate their promotional messages. Not only are you resolving the bill stuffer issue, but their promotional message is now part of the bill, not an extra bit of paper that can easily be disposed of.

Very neat.

The consumer asks: What do I get out of this?

A warm fuzzy feeling, because you know that your biller is saving the environment; and also the hope that the cost saving they have experienced as a result, is passed onto you

I like reading promotional offers. Obviously the fine print is crucial in determining the actual benefit for me, but if I didn’t get this information, then I wouldn’t know if the product I currently use is most suited to my current or future needs.

I agree that it may be a relief not to encounter the bill stuffers along with the extra admin of chucking them away every month. But, as we understand that the best way of finding out about new products and services is when sales people advise us of them, so we understand that the use of electronic TransPromo documentation does benefit us as consumers.

TransPromo documentation

The biller sends an electronic invoice / statement / bill / document / etc to the consumer. Instead of adding extra marketing documentation or sending subsequent promotional communication; the biller incorporates the promotional material into the same message as the billing information, so that the promotional information is passed onto the consumer.

How can YOU benefit from eBilling?

The obvious winner in any eBilling scenario is the biller. Costs are reduced, days sales outstanding (DSO) is reduced, and their reputation is enhanced by their investment in the environment. All good reasons for the biller to go the eBilling root.

What about the end user? While organizations incentivize adoption of their eBilling initiatives, to maximize their benefits, their customers will continue to ask, “What’s in it for me? Why must I help you reduce your costs?” The examples below indicate how organizations believe they should reward the customer:

Go Green
By signing up for eBilling you are helping to save the environment for your children and their children. You are eliminating the need for paper and hence, the destruction of trees. By you turning off paper, you are ultimately assisting in the prevention of global warming.

This form of persuasion / marketing works. It works for those people who are aware of the effects of industry on the environment and who appreciate the arguments of the doomsayers. It won't work for those who don't care, or are yet to be persuaded.

Money
We will pay you to switch from paper to electronic bills. You will get a rebate, a discount but you will pay more if you don't!

Organizations provide a financial incentive or punishment to get their customers to convert to eBilling. This includes providing customers with a discount, when they sign up for eBilling, or charging them for still wanting paper bills.

Convenience
There is a third category! I sit in front of my computer all day everyday. I receive email, I read it, I process it, and I file it – delete it when necessary. I don't have to go to the mailbox; I don't need to open envelopes; I don’t need to punch paper; I don’t need lever arch files.

I can sort the data; I can export the data; I can manipulate the data to check the trends. It is so much easier!

Even within the realm of the convenient, there are two further distinctions. The somewhat confusing 'push' versus 'pull' debate. An eBill that is 'pushed' to you consists of an email with a secure attachment – the attachment is your eBill. A 'pull' eBill consists of an email notifying you that your eBill is ready for viewing at an online portal.

Which is more convenient? Well, as I have my inbox open all day everyday, I would say the ‘push’ eBill. It is available when I am not connected to the internet. It is storable. It is distributable. It is convenient. The ‘pull’ version requires authentication on a website. A username and password is required. I can download it and store it, but then it becomes vulnerable.

Convenience is the number one reason why people will change the way they do things. Fast food, email, aeroplanes, online shopping, convenience stores, cellular telephones. These things make it easier for people to do what they want to do. I think eBilling should be the same. So, if convenience is the primary advantage of eBilling then financial incentives and greener industry, as great as they are, are the side effects.

The advantages of eBilling are great – for the environment, the biller and the customer. They are more apparent for the biller, and obviously for the environment; but the customer still needs to be convinced.

The Advantages and Disadvantages of eStatements

For the purposes of this argument, the term 'eStatement' refers all documents sent by an organization to its customer base via email in lieu of a paper copy. This includes eBilling in all its variations: eBills, eInvoices, eDocuments, Pay Stubs, Electronic Notifications and Alerts. (Striata provides all of these electronic document solutions.)

We know that most organizations punt the use of electronic documentation, because it saves them money; and contributes towards their corporate social responsibility profile. But what are the benefits to the end user? What are the advantages? And what are the disadvantages?

I recently stumbled across this following post http://www.philforhumanity.com/eStatements.html. The issues raised by the author prompted me to react. The author suggests that eStatements are not a viable option for the end user. This is my response, which obviously suggests otherwise:

Firstly, I think it is important to note that the solution discussed by the author is that of ‘Pull’ eBilling. This means that the eStatement is made available through an online portal. While useful in many different ways, it is not necessarily the most convenient option. The Striata Push eBilling solution delivers the eStatement directly to the end user’s inbox. Our take on this is that this delivery mechanism is far more convenient for the end user. Please read this article on the Striata website: Push vs Pull.

Let’s return to the issue at hand. The advantages of eStatements are great - wouldn’t you say?
1. available instantly
2. accessible from any computer in the world
3. better for the environment
4. saves companies a lot of money
The advantages of Push eBilling differ slightly in that the eStatements are only available from any computer in the world if the end user has a webmail account. Typically this is Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo, AOL, or something similar. Generally, people who require their information when they are away from their computer will have a method of connecting to their email. This could be through either their mobile device or laptop.

Let’s look at the suggested disadvantages individually:
1. not as private as regular mail
o I disagree with this statement - for both Push and Pull eBilling solutions. For Pull eBilling, one is required to login – usually on a secure site. Push eBilling methodology delivers the encrypted email into the recipient’s inbox. The email, even if undelivered, is rarely compromised prior to reaching the end user’s inbox. However, regular mail is handled manually and thus at risk of being tampered with. My intention is not to be derogatory of anyone in the postal service however, I am merely stating that the potential for misdemeanor is present.

2. email accounts are sometimes locked or lost
o People move. I am still getting mail from the people who lived in my house prior to us. We moved in three years ago. While this is a downside of electronic delivery, it is no different from any other form of communication delivery. Furthermore, with the advent of webmail services, many people have a work email address and another permanent email address. Also, with email, it is easy to tell if the message is not delivered. If that does happen, then an alternate contact method can be used to update the end user’s details.

3. eStatements will eventually expire and thus become inaccessible
o This is obviously a disadvantage of Pull eBilling. However, both Push and Pull solutions give the end user the opportunity to save the document on their local machine. It is a matter of having good filing practices – the same as paper based communications.

4. the lack of not having physical records
o All that is required is to save the documents that you require for future use onto your computer. Furthermore, make sure that you have provided access to the computer to a relevant person. Perhaps even state this in your will. This way (to respond to the author) the information that is relevant to your estate is still available and accessible.

I believe that the end user benefits in the form of convenience. The disadvantages mentioned above are avoided if email deliverability best practices are used by the sender, and improved technical administration by the end user.

Is eBilling Really the Green Alternative?

Turn off the paper! Stop getting paper invoices! You’re killing the trees!

Arguments we, as end users, have heard a thousand times in an attempt to encourage us to switch to eBills. The Biller hopes that by appealing to our conscious’s we will assist them in their plight to save the environment, and to save them money.

eBilling definitely saves them money, but is eBilling a green alternative? This is an unscientific view of this argument.

Assumptions
  1. The following process is outsourced by the biller in both cases:
    • Billing data is collated and electronically delivered to the vendor
    • The vendor compiles the invoice
    • The vendor prepares the communication to the end user
    • The vendor sends the communication to the end user
  2. A simple process by any ones terms; here are the two vendor specific processes in order to compare their carbon emissions:
Step by Step process Comparison
  1. The vendor receives the data from the biller
    • Both vendors require the use of electronic systems to receive and process the information.

  2. The vendor compiles the message
    • Both vendors have systems that extract the correct information in the correct manner and create the invoice / statement in the prescribed manner. The output is a document that will be identical in all mediums.

  3. The vendor completes the message
    • Paper Vendor: The message is printed. The bill stuffers are printed.
    • Electronic Vendor: An email is created. The cover letter is compiled.

  4. The message is prepared for sending
    • Paper Vendor: The invoice and bill stuffers are placed in an envelope and prepared for postage.
    • Electronic Vendor: The invoice is attached to the email.

  5. The message is sent
    • Paper Vendor: The completed envelope is delivered to the postal service.
    • Electronic Vendor: The email is sent.
Carbon Emission Comparison

Steps 1 and 2 will provide similar carbon emissions.

Steps 3 through 5 is where the difference occurs. Step 3 for the Print Vendor is where the carbon footprint really grows: the paper manufacture, the ink manufacture, the machines that are required to print the invoices, and the bill stuffers. Step 4 introduces a machine (I assume) that places all the printed material into an envelope. And finally, the not insignificant carbon cost of the postal system. While the Electronic Vendor still incurs carbon cost in the process of creating and sending the email and its attachment, there is no separate infrastructure required for this over an above that used for Steps 1 and 2. This means that there is marginal carbon cost added in steps 3, 4 and 5 for the Electronic Vendor.

I am inclined therefore, in this unscientific, gut feel analysis, to recommend that we – as end users – believe the billers and sign-up for eBilling, the green alternative.