Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading global provider of financial services technology solutions, announced today that it has delivered its two billionth electronic bill, or e-bill, since 2005. E-bills contain the same information as paper bills and are delivered through the online banking or company websites where many consumers already pay their bills. By incorporating e-bill delivery into their regular bill payment habits, consumers are able to save time, gain financial control and stay organized. In fact, according to the 2012 Fiserv Billing Household Survey, the top reasons consumers activated e-bills were convenience (69 percent), email reminders (31 percent) and financial organization (27 percent).

“Viewing and paying bills online is appreciated by customers in terms of convenience, environmental benefits, timing of payments and a sense of gaining control over finances,” said Ron Shevlin, senior analyst, Aite Group. “The milestone of delivering more than two billion e-bills is a testament to the value perceived by those who now utilize e-bills as part of banking and bill payment. With the younger generations’ proclivity to use technology, especially the mobile channel, it probably won’t take as long to hit the next two billion e-bills as it did the first two billion.”

Fiserv is the leading provider of e-bill presentment, delivering e-bills to more than 3,800 financial institutions, for nearly 60 percent of all common household bills such as utility, mobile phone and credit card. Fiserv patented the first end-to-end electronic billing and payment solution in 2000. Today, not only does Fiserv provide e-bills for a greater percentage of the market than any other provider, but it also delivers data-fed e-bills to financial websites, which enable a better consumer experience. Data-fed e-bills give consumers direct access to a full view of the bill within online banking as opposed to an abridged snippet of the consumer’s bill that is available through a scraped e-bill.

E-bill activation has been most effective when two main components are considered -- customer education and an intuitive user interface. On the education side, billers and financial institutions that created awareness about e-bills, how to sign-up for them and the benefits that can be achieved by utilizing e-bills, have seen significant increases in adoption.

In terms of the consumer experience and leveraging the interface as a way to encourage consumers to try e-bills and turn off paper bills, Fiserv recently announced the availability of E-bill Easy Activation (for billing organizations) and E-bill Introduction (for financial institutions). This feature gives consumers an opportunity to receive e-bills for an introductory period at their financial institution bill pay website while they also continue to receive the paper bills in the mail, giving customers the ability to become familiar with e-bills before permanently making the switch. Pilots of the feature conducted with five financial institutions delivered solid results, with consumers enrolled in the pilot activating three times more e-bills than consumers who were not enrolled. Additionally, billing organizations that are employing E-Bill Easy Activation at financial institution websites have seen nearly one in five customers choosing to turn-on e-bills and turn-off paper bills for good.

“For some consumers, changing behavior from paper to electronic billing is better accomplished with a trial period,” said Michelle Flint, general manager, eBill business line, Biller Solutions, Fiserv. “Easy Activation and E-bill Introduction are our ways of listening to the voice of the consumer, and making it easy for them to try e-bills without turning off the paper bill until they are comfortable with the process. Our experience tells us that once consumers try e-bill delivery, they are highly satisfied with the service and elect to receive additional e-bills from their service providers.”

Fiserv is the leading provider of e-bill presentment and payment.

Additional Resources:

• eBill Place - http://www.ebillplace.com/cda/ebillplace/
• “The Benefits of e-Billing” Infographic - http://www.slideshare.net/FiservPR/infographic-the-benefits-of-ebills
• “The State of Paperless Billing: Multiple Channels and Innovative Marketing Can Help Billers Extend E-Bill Beyond Early Adopters” White Paper - http://www.fiserv.com/resources/state-of-paperless-billing.htm
• “Ushering in the E-Bill Age: Driving Adoption through Financial Institution Websites” White Paper - http://www.fiserv.com/resources/driving-ebill-adoption-through-financial-institution-websites.htm
• Biller Solutions at Fiserv - http://www.fiserv.com/industries/biller-solutions.htm

About Fiserv

Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV) is a leading global technology provider serving the financial services industry, driving innovation in payments, processing services, risk and compliance, customer and channel management, and business insights and optimization. For more information, visit www.fiserv.com.

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