BellSouth Customers Now Can Receive and Pay Phone Bills Online; Reviewing and Paying Phone Bill is as Easy as Point and Click - Company Business and Marketing

Cambridge Telcom Report, August 30, 1999

BellSouth (NYSE: BLS) announced Monday residential customers can now receive and pay their telephone bills online through the Internet.

"BellSouth online bill payment unlocks a door of opportunity for customers who want a fast and easy way to receive and pay their bills online," said Brad Hahn, senior manager for E-commerce at BellSouth Consumer Services. "It provides families with an additional organizational tool that saves the time each month when paying bills. They no longer need to write checks and search the house for stamps."

BellSouth, at the forefront of efforts to bring easy and effective online bill payment and presentment to its customers, offers customers two alternate ways to receive their bills and a variety of ways to pay online.

In addition to receiving their bills through the mail as they do now, customers now can review their bill on a Web site such as www.bellsouth.com or receive it online through a consolidator Web site. Customers have the option to pay their bill one of six ways online:

* With a credit card directly on the bellsouth.com site
* Through their financial institution (if it has an e-bill option)
* With Automatic Funds Transfer from the customer's checking account (see
bellsouth.com for more info)
* With automatic payment via the BellSouth MasterCard
* Through an e-bill provider such as CheckFree
* Using financial management software such as Quicken 98/99

"Online bill payment brings customers an additional convenient and effective way to do business with BellSouth," Hahn said. "With no checks to write, access to the same image of the current bill online and 24/7 availability, online interaction with BellSouth gives customers a greater level of control and convenience."

Research shows more than 700,000 BellSouth households are interested in paying their phone bills via the Internet. According to The Yankee Group, 79 % of those 700,000 customers who want to pay bills online would choose to use a central site, while 20 % would prefer to use individual Web sites. Of those who would choose a central site, 84% say they want that central site to be their bank.(1)

Paper bills are no longer necessary when customers choose to receive and pay their bills online. When they sign up to receive their bills online, their paper bills will automatically be "turned off." For the first 10,000 customers who choose to pay online BellSouth will plant a tree.

The online bill actually provides additional information for customers. For example if a customer has questions about their bill, they can simply click on that portion of the bill and receive an explanation. Future enhancements will enable customers to click on a long-distance phone number and find out the name of the person called, saving the customer time.

"BellSouth's objective for online customer service is for consumers to be able to use the Internet to perform more tasks than they currently perform over the phone and through the mail -- at their own pace," Hahn said.

When the customer logs on with the online service provider, they see the number of new bills, statements, and notices received. Also, they are sent a reminder e-mail to notify them of new bills not viewed within four days of delivery.

To enroll, customers simply visit the BellSouth Web site at www.bellsouth.com/bill .

Customers will be sent an activation code in the US mail. Next, the customers' service of choice will confirm the account information with each electronic biller and payment account they signed up for during registration. It takes three-to-four weeks to begin receiving e-bills.

BellSouth is a $24 billion communications service company. It provides telecommunications, wireless communications, cable and digital TV, directory advertising and publishing, and Internet and data services to nearly 35 million customers in 19 countries worldwide.

(1) Yankee Group Internet Market Strategies series, report vol. 5, no. 2 - February 1999 entitled, "ONLINE FINANCIAL SERVICE STRATEGIES, Electronic Bill Presentment & Payment: A Question of Market Readiness: The Consumer Perspective."