DENVER, June 26, 1998 — MSFDC, the joint venture of Microsoft Corp. and First Data Corp., today announced that some of the largest billers and bill processors in the country are participating in a pilot program that will enable their customers to receive and pay customized bills over the Internet. MSFDC has also expanded its Systems Integrators program, signing up new companies to give billers and bill processors more choice in implementing its service.
The newly signed billing companies include Arizona Public Service Co., Browning Ferris Industries (BFI), Comcast Cellular Communications Inc., Consolidated Edison Company of New York, en.able, Mobil Corp., Nevada Power Co., Southern California Edison Co. and Xerox Corp. Newly signed bill processors include Billing Concepts Corp., Moore Business Communication Solutions, Vestcom International Inc., and CableData and International Billing Services (IBS) – both USCS International Companies. New participants in MSFDC’s Systems Integrator program include American Management Systems Inc., BancTec and Corillian Corp.
“The rapid growth of our biller program reflects the high level of support and momentum for MSFDC’s integrated system,”
said Darren Remington, co-president of MSFDC.
“Adding new billers and financial institutions is key to our growth strategy in the months ahead, as we help them to lower customer service costs while enhancing their customer relationships.”
“As one of the nation’s largest utilities, Southern California Edison firmly believes it is important to satisfy our customers’ desire for secure, convenient, state-of-the-art payment options,”
said Bill Reinhold, director of mass markets for Southern California Edison.
“With MSFDC’s innovative solution, we expect to meet our customers’ needs and enhance the quality of cutting-edge services and products that they have come to expect from us.”
Benefits for Billers
Billers using the MSFDC service will benefit from a variety of services that give them complete control and efficiency in bill delivery and collection. These include returning error-free remittances, retaining full control of the bill’s image and design, and providing flexible payment options.
“Our strength as a leading waste services company and our brand identity are indivisible,”
said Sandy Glatzau, senior vice president, marketing and sales at BFI.
“With MSFDC, we control bill format and content and enhance our brand identity in bringing this new level of value and convenience to our customers.”
Billers pay MSFDC a fee, roughly equivalent to the cost of postage, to deliver an electronic version of a bill or statement to their customers. For no additional cost, MSFDC also returns the payment and remittance information (such as a bill stub) to the biller or the biller’s bank, which can integrate this service with other treasury or cash management functions.
“We believe MSFDC’s Internet bill delivery solution is the right model for home banking consumers,”
said Gary Groscup, vice president of customer operations at Consolidated Edison.
“It provides added value for our customers and it’s an environmentally efficient way of reducing the paper-waste stream. We are very pleased to be part of this promising pilot.”
To date, several of the nation’s top-ranked financial institutions are distributing bills with the MSFDC pilot program, including Banc One Corp., KeyBank, Merrill Lynch, Norwest Corp. and Wells Fargo.
MSFDC – Empowering an Industry
The joint venture between Microsoft and First Data is a marriage of competencies that combines the nation’s leaders in technology and financial transaction processing.
“Our MSFDC relationship assures our customers access to an essential new bill delivery and payment technology,”
said Dawne Chandler, vice president, electronic services for International Billing Services. The MSFDC service is a strong complement to IBS’ range of value-added statement processing solutions, which includes full-featured electronic bill presentment and payment.
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MSFDC’s electronic bill presentment and payment business model was specifically designed so that all key constituents – billers, financial institutions and consumers – can benefit from cost savings, control and convenience. MSFDC is currently in pilot with its billers, bill processors and financial institutions and plans to launch the service commercially toward the end of the year.
About MSFDC
Based in Denver, MSFDC is a joint venture of Microsoft Corp., the worldwide leader in software for personal computers, and First Data Corp., a leading provider of transaction and information-based services that processes more than 9 billion transactions annually. Formed in June 1997, MSFDC is scheduled to introduce the nation’s first end-to-end system for electronic presentment of richly formatted bills over the Internet, as well as next-generation electronic
payment and remittance capabilities later this year. For more information on MSFDC, visit its Web site at http://www.msfdc.com/ .
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Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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