SAN ANTONIO, Oct. 24, 2001 — Billserv, Inc., today announced that South East Water has selected Billserv Australia Pty Ltd (Billserv Australia) to develop its online solution for presenting customers bills online.
"Billserv Australia offers one of the best EBPP solutions available on the Australian market. We researched the market thoroughly for the best service provider before making our final decision. Our EBPP solution will give our customers all they need in billing and the greatest flexibility in bill payment," said Dennis Cavagna, Managing Director of South East Water.
When Billserv Australia launches South East Water's EBPP solution early next year, they will be the first utility company in Australia to offer their customers electronic presentment of their bills online through BPAY at their banking website.
Salmat, Billserv's Australian joint venture partner, manages the paper billing for South East Water, providing an end-to-end service from data transfer through to document delivery.
Billserv Australia offers two EBPP models — the aggregator model for customers to view and make payments through their banking website; and the biller direct model where customers view and make payments directly through a billers own website.
"We have been working closely with South East Water for many months to develop a solution that meets the needs of their business and their customers. By offering paper bills for those who prefer them as well as meeting online demand, South East Water is providing service to meet all customer lifestyles," said Tim Smith, Salmat's EBPP Regional Sales Manager. "South East Water will distribute their bills to customers through the banks. Customers will have the ability to view, store and pay bills online through BPAY and their banking web site whenever they decide and wherever they are," he said.
"Billserv is extremely excited about the unique position that the Australian market holds in delivering state of the art electronic presentment and payment systems," said Billserv CEO, Michael R. Long. "We look forward to offering the convenience, flexibility and security of this new technology, as South East Water is truly the first of many to come."
More than four and a half million Australians are connected to the Internet with usage doubling every two years. Today, 10 per cent of all bills are already paid online. This figure is expected to grow to 50 per cent by 2007.
About South East Water
South East Water, a state-owned company, provides water and sewerage services to 1.3 million customers in Melbourne's south-eastern suburbs.
About Salmat
Salmat is the leader in customer communications in Australia with offices in every State and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), and internationally in New Zealand, Taiwan, the Philippines and Hong Kong. The company specializes in document management solutions, letterbox delivery, data solutions, teleservices, fulfillment and customer targeting. The company produces more than one billion individual, personalized communications annually for many of Australia's government bodies and blue chip organizations.
About Billserv, Inc.
Billserv, Inc. is the electronic bill presentment and payment Outsourced Solution Provider, delivering comprehensive, cost-effective solutions for presenting and servicing consumer bills for payment via the Internet. As part of an integrated EBPP solution, the company also provides market- Internet customer care and direct marketing applications. Billserv consolidates customer billing information and then securely delivers it to distribution end points and to the client's own presentment and payment site, hosted by Billserv. The company has relationships with all major EBPP distribution channels, including CheckFree, Spectrum, MasterCard RPPS, Paytrust, Metavante and BillingZone, giving companies and customers the widest array of Web sites from which to deliver, view, pay and manage bills. For additional information, visit http://www.billserv.com or call (210) 402-5000.
