Put Your Phone Bill on Autopilot; Pacific Bell Unveils Automatic Payment Service

Business Wire, August 21, 1995

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 21, 1995--Pacific Bell customers can now put their phone bills on autopilot with a new Automatic Payment Service (APS) launched this month. APS lets customers arrange to have their bill balance deducted from their checking accounts automatically each month.

With the new Automatic Payment Service, available August 10, Pacific Bell residence and business customers can set up a regular, automatic monthly deduction, and not have to worry about calling in each month.

APS is an enhancement of Pacific Bell's Pay-by-Phone service, first offered in 1992. APS enables customers to call in to their business office and arrange for that month's phone bill to be automatically debited from their checking account. It can be used specifically for just that month they're going to be away on vacation, for example, or they can call in and use it each month.

Like Pay-by-Phone, the service is free to Pacific Bell customers, and it will save them having to write checks and mail payments every month.

Each month, customers will get a bill, just as they do now. Then they'll have 10 days before their checking account is debited, in case they have questions about the bill, or need to make different payment arrangements.

Pacific Bell has about 300,000 customers using the monthly Pay-by-Phone service, and expects a significant number of them to switch to the new Automatic Payment Service. Pay-by-Phone will continue to be available, however, for customers who prefer that service.

Pacific Bell is a subsidiary of Pacific Telesis Group, a San Francisco-based diversified communications company.

CONTACT: Pacific Bell

Dane Pascoe, 415/542-3790