UPS' Latest Haul: Online Payments

United Parcel Service, through an alliance with Bottomline Technologies and Princeton eCom, plans to begin offering an electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) service for business-to-business transactions. UPS says the venture, spearheaded by its UPS Capital subsidiary, will allow businesses to track the status of their invoices and adjust payment information based on the status of their goods. "UPS Capital is reversing the conventional EBPP model that focuses only on the biller, by developing a product that focuses equally on the biller and payer," says Bob Bernabucci, president of UPS Capital. "The key to triggering bill payment, after all, is proof that the goods arrived."

     UPS says it is testing the service through several pilot projects, including one with computer outsourcing company Affiliated Computer Services, Dallas.

     "Since so many businesses depend on UPS to deliver goods and information, handling bill presentment and payment is a logical step for a company that facilitates millions of business-to-business transactions every day," says Avivah Litan, a research analyst at the Gartner Group. "UPS will be able to integrate this new offering into its already established ecommerce and e-logistics business units, and is positioning itself to offer a comprehensive ecommerce solution to its customers."

     According to research last year by the Gartner Group, if all U.S. paper bills were replaced with E-bills, at 1999 costs, billers would net an annual savings of more than $20 billion through differential billing cost savings, faster receipt of payments and E-payment processing of recurring payments.