ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Sept. 8, 1999 — TransPoint LLC today announced that Southern California Water Co. (SCWC) e-bills are available to all of its customers in California and Arizona. TransPoint TM e-bills are now available to customers of the SCWC family of companies including, Arden-Cordova Water Service, California Cities Water and Bear Valley Electric Service. In addition, companies who receive billing services from SCWC also receive the benefit of e-bills. They include Brooke Water LLC, C & S Water Co., Circle City Water, E & R Water Co., Navajo Water Co., Pine Water Co., United Utilities Inc. and Williamson Water Works.
SCWC, a public utility company owned by American States Water Co., provides water service to more than 1 million customers in California and Arizona. Once registered for the TransPoint e-bills service, customers can view their entire bill on the Internet, then simply click to pay the bill securely and reliably.
“TransPoint e-bills will increase customer satisfaction and enhance relationships through a convenient and secure way for our customers to pay their water bills,”
said Rusty Hodges, customer service center manager for SCWC.
“We looked into various e-bill vendors and it was evident that TransPoint offers the flexibility and control we need and the convenience our customers deserve.”
“Southern California Water Company is the first in its industry to go live with the TransPoint e-bills service,”
said Lewis Levin, CEO of TransPoint.
“This choice demonstrates the company’s leadership within the water industry and is a true testament to its confidence in TransPoint’s complete e-bills service. More companies will be offering TransPoint e-bills soon. With our new biller customers, we are excited to help this industry grow much faster.”
SCWC customers can access the TransPoint e-bills service at http://www.transpoint.com/ . Additional consumer service providers, including several financial institutions, are in the process of implementing and testing the system and plan to make e-bills available at their Web sites throughout the next year. More than 50 companies are in various stages of implementing TransPoint e-bills, and more than 25 are expected to begin offering the service to their customers in the next few months. A full list of companies that offer bills on TransPoint.com and those that are preparing to do so in the next few months can be viewed at http://www.transpoint.com/ .
Because of the convenience e-bills offer consumers, the Internet bill delivery and payment (IBDP) industry is expected to grow rapidly. By the end of 2000, almost 8 billion recurring bills will be presented electronically each year, or 12 percent of all bills in the United States, according to Killen and Associates, a leading provider of electronic bill presentment and payment research.
About SCWC
Southern California Water Co. (SCWC) is a public utility engaged principally in the delivery of water service to one out of every 30 Californians. SCWC operates 41 separate water systems within 75 communities in 10 counties in California. In addition, SCWC provides electric service to approximately 21,000 customers.
About TransPoint
TransPoint, established in June 1997, is a joint venture of Microsoft and First Data Corp., with Citibank as a minority equity investor. TransPoint is a leader in the emerging IBDP industry with a completely new, seamless e-bills service built from the ground up. The TransPoint system uses innovative technology and integrates easily with billers’ and banks’ existing payment systems. Launched commercially in April 1999, the TransPoint service allows consumers to view and pay their bills at multiple Internet locations, including the MSN TM MoneyCentral TM and TransPoint Web sites. TransPoint e-bills are also scheduled to be available at the Web sites of many leading financial institutions in the coming months. TransPoint is based in Englewood, Colo. More information about e-bills is available at http://www.transpoint.com/ .
TransPoint is an exclusive U.S. trademark of TransPoint LLC.
Microsoft, MSN and MoneyCentral are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.
Other product and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.
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