Clairmail Testing Last-Minute Mobile Bill-Payment Options

Clairmail Inc. is testing a "snooze alarm" for bill payments initiated from mobile phones. The Novato, Calif.-based mobile banking and payment processor offers a mobile bill-payment service it markets as Mobile Lockbox to financial institutions and billers. A key function of Clairmail's service is what it calls "actionable alerts," meaning mobile-phone users whose banks offer the service may respond to alerts with commands to pay bills or just ignore them until later. Clairmail's new service, now in pilot phase, sends mobile-banking and bill-payment users an initial alert about 20 days before a bill's due date, Reetika Grewal, Clairmail director of product marketing, tells CardLine sister publication Cards&Payments. If the customer opts not to pay the bill right away, the service will send another notice a week or two later. This time, it will charge a convenience fee of 25 cents to 50 cents, as set by the financial institution, for settlement that is slightly faster than standard bill payment times. If a customer opts to wait longer, he will receive a final payment alert shortly before the bill is due, with the option of paying a convenience fee, usually between $5 and $10, as set by the financial institution, to expedite payment of the bill. The current pilot is testing the service only for automated clearinghouse payments, but Clairmail hopes eventually to expand the service to debit and credit card payments, Grewal says. Grewal would not disclose an estimated launch date for the service or the fees Clairmail will charge banks.