Tech Bytes: Bill Software Supports MasterCard Format

Sterling Commerce has introduced software that lets banks process electronic bill payments using several formats, including one developed by MasterCard International.

The product, called Vector:Biller, is an upgrade of mainframe-based software that Sterling designed this year to process payments originating from Visa U.S.A.'s Epay service.

"It enables true end-to-end electronic bill payment between banks and their biller-corporate customers," said Robert Heard, a vice president at Sterling. The software eliminates "the paper-based, check-and-list functions they now perform," he said.

The term "check-and-list" refers to the process by which hundreds of electronic payments are settled in lump-sum form via a paper check.

This process creates reconcilement burdens when the check value does not agree with the accompanying list of what consumers have bought and how much they have paid.

Sterling officials said the earlier version is used by NationsBank Corp., Banc One Corp., and others. The product is used to process incoming consumer bill payments and to reconcile remittances with accompanying information. Corporate billers get consolidated statements.

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