Online payments are not being adopted uniformly, particularly in the business banking segment, leading Bill.com, a firm that exists in part to take paper out of billing, to introduce an option that enables users to tap the Web to trigger printed bills that can be mailed at a lower rates.
The new service, which several banks are in the process of deploying as a small business banking option, enable clients to avoid printing, stuffing and mailing invoices, providing those services at a lower cost.
"Our customers have told us that as much as there are people who like to go electronic, there are still people who want to have a paper invoice," says Rene Lacerte, CEO of Bill.com, noting the company designed the service for billers that send at least 10 invoices per month.
By clicking an option on the Bill.com portal, users may access the mailing service for 99 cents per invoice, which compares with the cost of several dollars to manually stuff and mail an invoice. Bill.com can leverage its own scale and volume to offer the service at the lower cost, Lacerte says
Other new options include a quick response code, a barcode-like code on each printed invoice that the recipient can scan with any smartphone and link directly to their Bill.com payment portal. Another new feature enables a firm's accounts receivable department to integrate with accounting software such as QuickBooks, Peachtree and QuickBooks Online.
Users also may customize the service, setting up one-time or recurring charges on behalf of their customers to improve cash flow, and send invoice reminders and change the invoice online. Payments can also be tracked online, and documents such as receipts, contracts and quotes can be shared electronically.
Bill.com also is expanding its channel reach in the "more digital" direction, having recently launched Bill.com Mobile, which enables execs to review images of bills, approve them and schedule payments from any bank account they are authorized to access. The paper-based mailing option also can be accessed from the new mobile service, which is available for free via the firm's Web optimized site.
"From a mobile device, you can see what you owe and what's owned to you, as well as initiate payments and invoices that can be mailed out to customers," Lacerte says. "There's one place to manage the back end of office operations."
Bill.com did not disclose which banks are adding the service, but Martha Branch, an accountant at the German International School of Silicon Valley, says the new services allow parents, most of whom pay tuition online, to receive, track and confirm when payments have been received. It also has reduced calls and email queries regarding tuition, she says.
A majority of businesses still send and receive paper invoices, Bill.com says, thus creating the need for the company to bridge offline and online businesses.
Mark Schwanhausser, a senior analyst for Javelin Research, says a "hybrid" paper/digital payments model is necessary to expand paperless billing. "Turning off paper sounds like a one-off decision, but it actually requires a gradual behavioral change that will rely on a variety of technological upgrades," he says.
Between bills and invoices, statements, regulatory disclosures and marketing, there is "too much paper flooding in,” Schwanhausser adds. Financial institutions “need to do a lot of things in concert to turn off paper, and they have to recognize that an all-electronic proposition will gain limited traction and remains an impractical promise," he says.
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