San Francisco-based Wells Fargo , will use the software from Sun and Netscape, a division of America Online Inc . It will allow banks or brokerages to receive merchant billing information and to debit payments from customer accounts in a seamless process for the consumer. There are many Web sites that offer the capability of presenting bills, but one of the biggest barriers to online bill payment has been the time-consuming process of going to all those sites. Online bill fulfillment represents a huge area of potential profits for banks, which can make money off fees charged for the service. Individual businesses could also save by not having to pay mailing costs.
Consumers also appear to be clamoring for such services.
Research firm Jupiter Communications projects the number of households using the feature will jump tenfold by 2003, to 18 million. The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. ABC News Internet Ventures.