eBills on the move

I'm trying to get my head around whether customers want to view eBills on their mobiles.

"Of course, why not?" is the obvious answer, but when you consider the question from different angles, the perspective becomes murky.

Coming, ready or not

In some developing countries, there is 10 times the number of mobile accounts than Internet accounts. If you read no further, this information alone confirms that an essential process like billing needs to cater for the growing market segment reachable only by mobile.

We can't assume all mobile users are Internet-enabled, but my Google research tells me that by 2013, mobile phones will overtake PCs as the most common web access device worldwide (Gartner).

Are you PC, mobile or both?

I'm excluding business to business invoicing from this deliberation, as I'm fairly confident that the creditor's clerk is working on a PC, not checking invoices on the fly between grocery shopping and gym class.

With the spotlight firmly on consumers, where does the personal bill recipient want to view their bill?

In the absence of thorough and expensive research (if I was operating on that level, this would be a thesis, not a blog), I offer my perspective, with an open invitation to offer yours.

1. Consumers want choice.

• Yesterday, they viewed their bill on their work PC and paid via Internet Banking.


• Today they checked the Payment Due information via their Blackberry and paid through mobile banking.


• Tomorrow they may switch to an iPhone, and expect to view eBills there too.

2. What customers don't want is hassle.

Customers avoid unnecessary effort at all costs. The general public is not interested in the development dilemma inherent in diverse mobile operating systems. The fact that a bill might be viewable on PC email, but not on mobile email is incomprehensible to the average Joe. It is just expected that as the market adds a channel, so the service provider must seamlessly integrate that channel into all communication processes.

What we need is an eBilling offering that works on PC email and across mobile operating systems. Is there such a thing?

The answer is yes, and it's murky with opportunity!

Alison Treadaway
www.striata.com

iPhones for Everyone, eBilling for the Masses

No sooner have I blogged about Apple being a model of innovation and so focused on the consumer, than their latest (and greatest?) product, the iPhone 4 is hit by "Antenna-gate". I personally believe that this minor blip on the radar will have little effect on consumers' desire to own an iPhone. In my mind, the biggest limitation on iPhone sales is their decision to restrict the number of wireless providers that offer it. In the US, AT&T has the only license.

Why all the barriers?

Owning an iPhone sounds great, but switching mobile phone carriers requires a fair amount of effort and is often met with considerable resistance.

• There is a perception that switching means a whole lot of work – everything is going to change.


• There is risk – what if I don't love the service? Can I switch back?


• You may have had a bad experience with AT&T in the past.


• "I just worked out how to understand my current bill and now everything is going to change".

What does any of this have to do with eBilling?

Getting rid of paper bills sounds great, but switching to eBilling has traditionally required a fair amount of effort from the consumer and as a result, has been met with resistance.

• In most instances, the old online billing model requires a whole lot of work. You have to proactively log-on to the biller's website, find out where and how to sign-up, choose and remember a username and password, as well as provide a whole lot of other information in order to make the switch to paperless billing.


• There is a degree of risk. It's often not clear how you can switch back if you hate their eBilling service.


• You may have had a bad experience with eBilling in the past – forgotten your username / password, or used an online billing portal with so many steps that it was more hassle than what it was worth.


• Very often, the online bill looks nothing like the paper version and it's difficult to print or download a copy for your records.

eBilling is probably nowhere near as sexy as using an iPhone, but there is certainly appeal as more and more "technology savvy" consumers adopt the solution each day.

Meet your consumers WHERE THEY ARE.

If all wireless carriers offered the iPhone, there is no doubt in my mind that the stocks of all other phone manufacturers would plummet. More importantly, by making it more accessible, the number of iPhone users would go through the roof.

In eBilling terms, the key to maximizing adoption is to meet consumers in their comfort zone - their email inbox.

Why force consumers to come to your portal – and then make them go through a complex sign-up process, just so that they can replace their paper bill with an electronic copy?

Receiving an encrypted PDF bill in your inbox that looks exactly like the paper version and that also has a secure PAY NOW button in it, is so much easier than receiving a paper copy and then heading to internet banking to pay or writing out a cheque. But the most critical factor is not to force consumers to switch everything they do in order to adopt this (not so new) technology.

Striata's proven no-registration methodology means eBilling is accessible to everyone with an email address, not just the technology savvy consumers that are prepared to jump through all the hoops to make the switch.

Are you ready to make the switch?

Barrie Arnold
VP of Sales, America
www.striata.com

What Paperless Adoption Rates Can I Realistically Expect?

The case for eBilling (also known as paperless billing) has been
described as 'compelling.' Then again, take-up rates have been described
as disappointing. Despite the many arguments for eBilling, the real
problem with mass adoption is customer reluctance to change, despite the
idea that eBilling saves the environment and saves money.

The definition of eBilling Adoption Rates is the number of customers that
request an electronic bill instead of a paper bill. If you have 100,000
customers and 20,000 of your customers request an electronic bill
instead of a paper bill that means you have achieved a 20% adoption
rate. The higher your adoption rate, the better the cost savings
achieved, since total eBilling costs are typically 50%-80% lower than
traditional mail.

There are six clear reasons why consumers do not turn off their paper bill:

1. Customer indifference: Doing nothing is the path of least resistance.


2. Enrolment: Registering at each website is a painful process.


3. Multiple biller sites: Too much effort to remember each process.


4. Convenience: Fetching my bill is less convenient than receiving it.


5. Presentment vs. payment: I can see what I owe, now how do I pay?


6. Mobile matters: I need to see more than just a summary.

From these reasons, it is clear that consumers are searching for convenience in their already hectic lifestyles, and so, the easier we can make their eBilling transition, the higher the adoption rates we'll achieve.

What methods do you use to achieve high adoption rates?

The most important consideration is not what technology is implemented, but how the consumer is treated during the conversion journey. Here are some considerations:

• Rollout Strategy: Develop detailed rollout strategies to ensure the desired adoption rate is achieved. This includes deciding on an opt-in or opt-out approach, whether to offer incentives or impose penalties and how to handle exceptions.


• Understand Your Customer Base: Carefully review the demographics of your customer base: What percentage are over 50 years old? What percentage of your customers use online banking and how does this compare to industry averages? What percentage of your customers live in rural areas? Understanding your base is critical to developing effective rollout campaigns.


• Consumer Education: It's important to agree internally WHY electronic billing is to be implemented. An environmental argument only has legs if it doesn't only address saving the rainforests, since paper generally comes from sustainable forests. Instead, address the fact that the paper industry is a major source of toxic chemical pollution, especially toxic solvents and chlorine compounds used to bleach and delignify pulp (The process of removing lignin – an organic substance binding the cells – from wood or non-wood fibres).


• Utilize all Existing Print Correspondence: The most effective way to spread the paperless message is to embed graphical marketing within your printed statements and on envelopes. This is very cost effective and has great results.


• In-Person Interactions: An employee/customer rewards program for signing up for electronic statements is a great way to get results. A few banners, posters, and employee buttons are all it takes to make this a great success.

In Conclusion:

There really is no simple answer to the question of what adoption rate can be expected when embarking on an eBilling campaign. In Striata's global experience across financial services, telco's and utilities, the average adoption rate for an online eBilling solution seems to plateau at between 7% and 12% over a 3-year period. However many of our clients are achieving adoption rates double, triple and even quadruple these figures in certain instances. The higher adoption rates are directly related to the ease of use for the consumer.

For more detail on how we simplify your customers' lives, please see The eBilling 'Push' Advantage .

Michael Haupt
Managing Director, Europe
www.striata.com