IDC projects that e-billing will embrace 11.8 per cent of consumer spending on bills this year, leaving the Net as a marginal force. I'm not sure the banks see the knockout punch. Spurring market growth presents the classic Catch-22 dilemma. Without a critical mass of billers, consumers won't see much sense in signing up for e-billing, since the time savings will be minimal if they're still receiving paper bills in the mail. But convincing businesses to commit to e-billing is problematic if there isn't a big enough group of consumers.
Revenue comes from the businesses that send out bills.
Mr. Mellanson says there are three main areas of savings. He says businesses can also see substantial reductions in the volume and duration of customer inquiries to call centres, as an electronic bill can deliver more information than its paper cousin. Costs for each customer call could fall as much as 80 per cent in the long term, he says. A third area of savings comes with improvements to working capital, as customers typically make payments more quickly with e-billing. The benefits for business goes beyond cost cutting, however.