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Thursday, Jan. 31, 2013, will go down as one of the payments industry’s more notable days of the deal. First, payments-software developer ACI Worldwide Inc. announced plans to buy Online Resources Corp. in a deal that values the electronic bill-payment and presentment technology provider at $263 million. Then the big processor …
Read More »NACHA’s Bill-Pay Council Puts the Finishing Touches on Its QR-Code Guidelines
Mobile bill payments took a step forward Thursday when automated clearing house network overseer NACHA reported that its Council for Electronic Billing and Payment (CEBP) had developed final guidelines for consumers to use Quick Response (QR) codes on bills to facilitate electronic payments. The guidelines are voluntary for billers, banks …
Read More »On the Rise, Mobile Bill Pay Could Spur More E-Bill Presentment, Card Usage
U.S. consumers are rapidly turning to mobile devices to pay bills, and that trend in turn is likely to encourage more card usage for bill payment and more electronic bill presentment, according to a study released this week. Some 8% of households with an Internet connection paid at least one …
Read More »The Latest Numbers Herald Checks’ Electronic Future
New data from the automated clearing house network show that ACH debit transactions for online bill payments grew 9% in the third quarter while paper checks converted into ACH transactions after being mailed to lockboxes decreased by 8%. The story behind the interrelated numbers boils down to the years-long …
Read More »Mitek Lands U.S. Bank As a Client for Its New Mobile-Imaging Bill-Pay Technology
Mitek Systems Inc., the leading developer of software for mobile remote deposit capture, announced on Wednesday that U.S. Bank will offer its new Mobile Photo Bill Pay product to its customers in 2013. The news is a breakthrough for Mitek in taking its key mobile-imaging technology beyond its original deposit …
Read More »FIS Heats up Faster Funds Trend with Its PayNet Real-Time Network
The nascent market for faster funds transfers, which has been on the boil all year, heated up further this week with Fidelity National Information Services Inc.’s announcement of its real-time PayNet network. The new system, which relies on FIS’s NYCE Payments Network LLC debit switch, is live with 200 FIS …
Read More »ACH Bill-Pay Council Floats Plan To Bring QR Codes to Bills
A group that promotes electronic bill payment through the automated clearing house network is proposing guidelines for use of Quick Response (QR) bar codes on bills that backers hope will encourage more consumers to pay bills online. The Council for Electronic Billing and Payment is taking comments on its proposal …
Read More »Financial Institutions Face Threat of Slow Growth in Online Banking, Bill Pay
Once the bright stars in the financial world’s firmament, online banking and bill pay are no longer growing for banks and other financial institutions and will likely see only incremental growth over the next five years, a new report projects. Unless financial institutions can ignite growth again, they will drift …
Read More »Western Union Launches Mobile Bill Feature in Face of Rival Services from Startups
With a number of startup companies now offering bill-pay capability based on smart phones, old-line payments companies are starting to respond with services of their own, relying on their reputations as established players in electronic payments. One of the first is The Western Union Co., which this week introduced a …
Read More »Errors Plaguing Online Bill-Payment ‘Sausage Factory’ Total $720 Million in Costs
Those missing account numbers or little typos consumers make when paying bills can cost billers and others in the payments chain big bucks to fix. A recent study for automated clearing house governing body NACHA pegs the annual cost of such exception processing at about $720 million. More bad news: …
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