Comments on: Can the Green Movement Save E-Billing? http://www.markevanstech.com/2008/04/22/can-the-green-movement-save-e-billing/ Thoughts on Startups, Entrepreneurs and the Web Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:25:18 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Michael http://www.markevanstech.com/2008/04/22/can-the-green-movement-save-e-billing/comment-page-1/#comment-159359 Michael Tue, 27 Jan 2009 13:25:23 +0000 http://www.markevanstech.com/?p=3294#comment-159359 Mark, Greetings from London, and thank you for your insightful article. I thought you might want to hear a vendor's view on why ebilling is 'yet to catch fire with 95% of households'. I recently wrote the following: Traditional online billing portals, whilst straight-forward to implement for the biller, lack the key prerequisites of simplicity and ease-of-use for the customer. Remembering a complex, system-generated username and password, keying these in without error and then navigating through a maze of web pages to find the relevant ebill has kept would-be users of online billing away in their droves. This model of insisting that recipients must fetch their billing data is akin to the postal service asking us to collect our letters and mail from various warehouses around the country. ...So, the answer is to change the model. Instead of trying to change customer behaviour, companies should simply participate in their customers' daily routine, by sending their ebill to their inbox. Email billing has a fundamental advantage in that the biller can control the adoption rates and rollout. All that is required is the customer's email address. The full article can be read online: Why has Electronic Billing Adoption Stalled? Perhaps a 'PUSH' is all it takes for consumers to go paperless. Key strategies for B2C billers are discussed to increase the number of people enrolled in electronic billing. http://www.prlog.org/10171649 Mark,

Greetings from London, and thank you for your insightful article. I thought you might want to hear a vendor’s view on why ebilling is ‘yet to catch fire with 95% of households’.

I recently wrote the following:

Traditional online billing portals, whilst straight-forward to implement for the biller, lack the key prerequisites of simplicity and ease-of-use for the customer. Remembering a complex, system-generated username and password, keying these in without error and then navigating through a maze of web pages to find the relevant ebill has kept would-be users of online billing away in their droves. This model of insisting that recipients must fetch their billing data is akin to the postal service asking us to collect our letters and mail from various warehouses around the country.

…So, the answer is to change the model. Instead of trying to change customer behaviour, companies should simply participate in their customers’ daily routine, by sending their ebill to their inbox. Email billing has a fundamental advantage in that the biller can control the adoption rates and rollout. All that is required is the customer’s email address.

The full article can be read online:
Why has Electronic Billing Adoption Stalled?
Perhaps a ‘PUSH’ is all it takes for consumers to go paperless. Key strategies for B2C billers are discussed to increase the number of people enrolled in electronic billing.
http://www.prlog.org/10171649

]]> By: Keegan G http://www.markevanstech.com/2008/04/22/can-the-green-movement-save-e-billing/comment-page-1/#comment-83760 Keegan G Sun, 27 Jul 2008 00:34:20 +0000 http://www.markevanstech.com/?p=3294#comment-83760 Pssh, e-billing doesn't really save that many trees. Paper nowadays mostly comes from farmed trees, about 99% of it in fact. E-billing is something that really only benefits the biller. Until billers offer more incentive (something like at least $1 off your bill per month or a one-time $5 discount), there won't be a big migration to e-billing. I use e-billing simply for the fact that I'm a university student and use my parent's home address for all my bills. I don't want my mom looking at my credit card statements and what-not. Pssh, e-billing doesn’t really save that many trees. Paper nowadays mostly comes from farmed trees, about 99% of it in fact. E-billing is something that really only benefits the biller. Until billers offer more incentive (something like at least $1 off your bill per month or a one-time $5 discount), there won’t be a big migration to e-billing. I use e-billing simply for the fact that I’m a university student and use my parent’s home address for all my bills. I don’t want my mom looking at my credit card statements and what-not.

]]> By: Steve K http://www.markevanstech.com/2008/04/22/can-the-green-movement-save-e-billing/comment-page-1/#comment-56574 Steve K Tue, 22 Apr 2008 14:30:15 +0000 http://www.markevanstech.com/?p=3294#comment-56574 E-billing isn't all that "green" for those of us who have a home office. The tax man wants us to keep records of our expenses and the simplest and easiest way is still to print out the invoices. In these cases e-billing just shifts the use of paper from the vendor to the customer. E-billing isn’t all that “green” for those of us who have a home office. The tax man wants us to keep records of our expenses and the simplest and easiest way is still to print out the invoices. In these cases e-billing just shifts the use of paper from the vendor to the customer.

]]> By: E Guy http://www.markevanstech.com/2008/04/22/can-the-green-movement-save-e-billing/comment-page-1/#comment-56547 E Guy Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:43:22 +0000 http://www.markevanstech.com/?p=3294#comment-56547 I do not think the issue is that the benefits of e-billing are greater for the biller than the consumer, it is the benefits of e-billing are not sufficiently high for the consumer to change his/her behaviour from paper to electronic. This is an awareness issue combined with getting people out of their old habits. Some people (like my wife) actually enjoy writing out cheques and mailing them to billers. Electronic bill payment is seen as a less enjoyable experience. I would suggest that there are not many people who fall into this category of enjoying the process of bill payment using paper but it highlights that changing behaviour is about more than efficiency...and the green movement may be another tool to help people make the transition. I do not think the issue is that the benefits of e-billing are greater for the biller than the consumer, it is the benefits of e-billing are not sufficiently high for the consumer to change his/her behaviour from paper to electronic.

This is an awareness issue combined with getting people out of their old habits. Some people (like my wife) actually enjoy writing out cheques and mailing them to billers. Electronic bill payment is seen as a less enjoyable experience.

I would suggest that there are not many people who fall into this category of enjoying the process of bill payment using paper but it highlights that changing behaviour is about more than efficiency…and the green movement may be another tool to help people make the transition.

]]> By: Joseph Thornley http://www.markevanstech.com/2008/04/22/can-the-green-movement-save-e-billing/comment-page-1/#comment-56545 Joseph Thornley Tue, 22 Apr 2008 11:33:48 +0000 http://www.markevanstech.com/?p=3294#comment-56545 Mark, One of the reasons I have not adopted e-billing from a broader variety of vendors is the complexity of their bills. You mention Rogers in your post. Well, my Rogers bill runs nine pages in length. And it is full of all kinds of line item charges. I need to print it out and parse it line by line to figure out just what they are charging me for. If companies want us to adopt e-billing, they should change their practices to simplify the way they charge us and make their bills more easily understood when reviewing them online. Mark,
One of the reasons I have not adopted e-billing from a broader variety of vendors is the complexity of their bills. You mention Rogers in your post. Well, my Rogers bill runs nine pages in length. And it is full of all kinds of line item charges. I need to print it out and parse it line by line to figure out just what they are charging me for.

If companies want us to adopt e-billing, they should change their practices to simplify the way they charge us and make their bills more easily understood when reviewing them online.

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