Bill Me Later extends its service to small businesses
I4 Commerce Inc., which developed the Bill Me Later service for online consumers who pass a quick credit check, has introduced a variant of the service called Bill Me Later Business aimed at Internet merchants that sell to small businesses.
As with the consumer version of Bill Me Later, a small business customer who wants to be billed for an online purchase has to enter a few pieces of data, such as a taxpayer identification number, that allow I4 Commerce to do a credit check, which the company says takes no more than three seconds. If the customer is approved, I4 takes responsibility for billing the customer and collecting the amount due.
“We’re finding a segment of small business customers who like to shop online, but there’s friction and pain associated with using your own personal credit card and tying up your credit limit,” says Vince Talbert, vice president of marketing at I4 Commerce.
The service can also help small businesses owners who may not have credit cards, or who may have maxed out their credit limits, make purchases. The 25 million U.S. small businesses made $35.5 billion in online purchases in 2006, according to research and consulting firm JupiterResearch.
Bill Me Later Business has several features aimed at business customers. Credit limits can be set for employees within a company; invoices can be customized and can include purchase order numbers and purchase detail; customers can track spending through a web site or e-mail.
More than 500 online merchants offer Bill Me Later as a payment option and some 2.5 million customers have selected it, Talbert says. I4 Commerce does not report transaction volume. A recent report from investment firm Cowen and Company said 56 of the top 200 online retailers now offer Bill Me Later as a way to pay, up from 53 in January.
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