Pitney Bowes Taps Cybercash for Electronic Payments

Pitney Bowes Inc., which provides mailing equipment and software to 2,000 top billing organizations, is planning for the day when more mail will be delivered electronically.

The company said Tuesday that it will incorporate Cybercash Inc.'s Internet payment services into its Digital Document Delivery, or D3, bill presentment and payment system.

D3 lets billers deliver bills and statements to consumers through a Web site. Pitney Bowes said it is successfully piloting D3 with United Illuminating Co. of New Haven, Conn. Working with Cybercash, Pitney Bowes will enable payments of bills presented on Web sites, via e-mail, at portal sites on the Internet, or at third-party bill concentrators, using Cybercash's electronic check or credit card service.

"Both statement rendering and remittance processing can be managed in one integrated system for a truly end-to-end solution," said John F. Kwant, director of business development for Stamford, Conn.-based Pitney Bowes.

"The wholesale bank is the big winner," said Richard Crone, vice president of Cybercash. "Billers enroll consumers and the wholesale bank processes the payments.

"The key for the wholesale bank is when the statement goes to all channels and the payment comes back to the biller's bank," he said. "We're the armored car for delivering the payment to the wholesale bank."