Cash management.

• Position: From the Library - Brief Article

"Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment: Is it Just a Click Away?"

Alexandria Andreeff, Lisa C. Binmoeller, Eve M. Boboch, Oscar Cerda, Sujit Chakravorti, Thomas Ciesielski, and Edward Green

Economic Perspectives, Fourth Quarter 2001, PP. 2-16.

Each year, billers spend between $10.5 to $25.5 billion on paper-based bill processing, a labor-intensive process that involves printing account statements, stuffing them into envelopes, and sorting for mailing. The creation and processing of bills can take anywhere from one to three days, while the average bill takes three to five days to reach the consumer. The time and cost involved in paper-based billing can be significantly reduced by electronic bill presentment and payment, which is simply the electronic presentment of bills to consumers and the electronic initiation of payment by consumers. For EBPP to catch on, however, the process must meet consumer expectations of convenience, time/cost savings, control over payments, universal payment options, privacy and security, reliability, and dispute resolution. EBPP also must meet biller expectations of cost reductions, dispute resolution, reliable delivery...