Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment

Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) - also known as ebilling or Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment (EIPP) - is the electronic delivery and presentation of statements, bills, invoices, and related information sent by a company to its customers. Certain EBPP applications also provide the ability to electronically settle payment for goods or services. The internet and phone/IVR provides customers of banks and billing companies with methods to remit payments with convenience, as well as access billing information. The service is also supported by Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) contacted directly by the consumer to facilitate payments or receive general assistance and answer questions.

EBPP providers provide billing companies the ability to demonstrate to their customers - the consumer - that they are technologically advanced companies with a primary concern for customer convenience and satisfaction. In addition, EPBB can produce substantial savings to traditional print & mail billing and payment remittance. An added benefit is the significant reduction in the use of paper.

Types of EBPP

There are two general models under EBPP. The first is the Biller Direct model. This model refers to an approach in which consumers make payments directly to one Biller that issues bills that they receive at the website of the firm that issued the bill. An example would be of a utility company offering this payment service to its consumers.

The second general model is the Bank-Aggregator model. The approach under this model is to make payment at an aggregator or consolidator site, usually from a consumer's bank’s website. This model allows the consumer to make payments to multiple Billers that are pre-registered to receive payments.

Parties involved

Billers, Bankers, Aggregators and Consolidators implementing EBPP can play various Roles in the overall EBPP process. Once roles are defined, it is easier to identify which model is most appropriate for the client's EBPP strategy. Billers may also implement more than one model in order to best serve their clients. Because the industry is continuously changing and redefining, the options and opportunities for EBPP will continue to expand.

• Biller Payment Provider (BPP) - An agent of the Biller that accepts remittance information on behalf of the Biller.
• Biller Service Provider (BSP) - An agent of the Biller that provides an EBPP service for the Biller.
• Bill Consolidator - A Bill Service Provider that consolidates bills from other Bill Service Providers or Billers and delivers them for presentment to the Customer Service Provider.
• Consolidator - A Biller Service Provider that consolidates bills from multiple Billers or other Bill Service Providers (BSPs) and delivers them for presentment to the Customer Service Provider (CSP) .

Customer Service Provider (CSP) – An agent of the Customer that provides an interface directly to customers, businesses or others for bill presentment. CSP enrolls customers, enables presentment and provides customer care, among other functions.

NACHA

NACHA-The Electronic Payments Association is a not-for-profit trade association that develops operating rules and business practices for the Automated Clearing House (ACH) Network and for other areas of electronic payments. NACHA activities and initiatives facilitate the adoption of electronic payments in the areas of Internet commerce, electronic bill payment and presentment (EBPP), financial electronic data interchange (EDI), international payments, electronic checks, electronic benefits transfer (EBT) and student lending.

To define some guidelines for best practices, NACHA has created the Council for Electronic Billing and Payment of the NACHA InteroperaBILL Initiative of the Banking Industry Technology Secretariat (BITS).