Intelligent CRNs now available to Billers

BPAY has introduced new functionality within its 'Customer Reference Number' system to meet the needs of Billers and delivering significant benefits to both the Biller and their customers.

Called Intelligent Customer Reference Numbers (iCRN), the new feature enables Billers to only accept payments made for the correct amount and/or by the due date.

iCRNs are ideal for those organisations requiring payment of the exact amount stated on the bill by a certain date for an agreement to be valid, such as Billers operating within the insurance and law enforcement industries.

The amount the customer pays and/or the date of payment can be fixed by the Biller and verified by the payer institution at the time of payment, ensuring only valid payments are accepted. iCRNs save the Biller time and effort returning money to their customer.

BPAY's Business Liaison Manager, Alan Priestley, said iCRNs were introduced last month following feedback from Billers seeking greater functionality.

"It's a sophisticated tool giving Billers more control, and for that reason we expect it to attract new Billers to the Scheme," he said.

"In the past, BPAY hasn't been a totally viable payment option for some organisations because of the inability to control the amount and timing of customer payments. The creation of iCRNs will help some Billers to overcome legal and insurance issues which have previously been a barrier to the adoption of BPAY," said Mr Priestley.

Insurance agreements, for example, may be invalid if an underpayment or late payment has been made by the consumer. Law enforcement agencies may require fines to be paid by a certain date to prevent further action.

iCRNs protect consumers too. The feature removes the risk of errors or penalties and eliminates scenarios where consumers think they have paid for a product or service, such as car insurance, only to discover their policy was invalid when they try to make a claim.

Customers are immediately notified of any invalid payments.

Billers interested in iCRNs should contact their Financial Institution.

BPAY campaign captures the imagination of Australia's young people

This year, February 14 wasn't just about romance. It was the day we launched 'Short & Sweet', our second campaign targeting Australia's youth.

The competition targeted Gen Y, a generation which research suggests surprisingly relies on over-the-counter payment methods. It aimed to raise awareness of BPAY among this audience and keep the Scheme front of mind for when they begin paying bills more regularly in the future.

BPAY Short & Sweet was a fun expression of our core benefit-reducing the laborious process of paying bills into something much shorter. That's why the competition was as quick to enter as it is to make a BPAY payment.

Australia's youth were invited to write a love poem, short story, recipe or film synopsis in 120 characters or less via SMS, Twitter or the campaign website for their chance to win cash prizes.

More than 50,000 people visited the competition website. And this year we witnessed an almost five-fold increase in the number of competition entries compared to last year, with more than 3,000 entries received.

Thousands of Australia's young people expressed their love, shared a culinary tip, gave us a film review or got creative with a short story. The judging panel had a challenging job filtering through the entries to determine the best five and overall winner for each category.

And the most popular category we hear you ask? Love poem attracted over 36 per cent of responses, indicating Australia's youth are keen to express their love, whether it's Valentine's Day or not.

In terms of the tactical objectives of the campaign, these have all been exceeded. The Usage and Attitudes study will be used to measure whether we have made that all important shift in awareness and consideration among Gen Y. This study will be complete in October 2011.

And the winning entries are...

Love poem (Gretchen): "My love for you is like chewing gum on a shoe. It's just so easy to get stuck on you!"

Film Synopsis (Justin): "The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis: The original wardrobe malfunction"

Recipe (Brent): "1. Take anything 2. Wrap in bacon"

Short story (Denise): "The last person in the world jumped from the 40th floor. As he went past the 10th floor, he heard the phone ring!"

Not only did the Short & Sweet campaign attract a record number of entries, but it also clearly reached the target market. Love poem winner, 26-year-old Gretchen is a Griffith University graduate, while Justin who won the Film Synopsis category, is a medical student who plans to spend his winnings overseas. 24-year-old Brent, winner of the Recipe category, will enjoy a new TV courtesy of the prize money.

Congratulations to our four very creative winners!

BPAY introduces Fixed Payment Billers

BPAY is launching a new category, the Fixed Payment Biller, giving Billers the authority to accept only those payments which meet certain criteria.

Where the payment is made after the due date, and not for the exact amount stated on the bill, Fixed Payment Billers will have the capability to return payments to customers through the Scheme.

You may have just read about Intelligent Customer Reference Numbers (iCRN) in our first article. While iCRN payments can be declined at the time of payment, payments made to Fixed Payment Billers are processed and the money refunded to the customer.

BPAY's Business Liaison Manager, Alan Priestley, says the Fixed Payment Biller option is an ideal solution for Billers unable to utilise iCRN for technical reasons. "It's also an immediate and viable interim measure for Billers in the process of implementing iCRN," he said.

Mr. Priestley said the new Biller category was developed in response to Biller feedback. "Some Billers asked for the ability to return money via the Scheme and we have delivered that capability," he said.

The introduction of Fixed Payment Billers follows a successful pilot BPAY recently completed with the Department of Transport WA (refer to the article below) and approval from BPAY's Management Committee to rollout this functionality across the Scheme.

Like iCRN, the new Biller category is expected to be popular among Billers in the insurance and law enforcement industries and will attract a wider audience to the BPAY Scheme.

It resolves some of the legal and insurance issues which previously prevented these businesses from offering BPAY to their customers.

Requests to become a Fixed Payment Biller must be approved by the BPAY Management Committee and only payments to approved Fixed Payment Billers can be returned via the Scheme.

To find out more about Fixed Payment Billers, please contact your Financial Institution.

Fixed Payment Biller trial a great success

BPAY's new Fixed Payment Biller initiative follows a highly successful six month pilot with the WA Government's Department of Transport (DoT).

The DoT has a legislative requirement to only accept payments made by the due date and for the exact amount stated on the bill, which has previously prevented the organisation from offering BPAY as a payment option.

The Commonwealth Bank's Bryan Hughes explained BPAY and the Commonwealth Bank worked together to develop the solution.

"The Fixed Payment Biller initiative is the ideal solution for the DoT's requirements of only accepting payments meeting certain criteria. Until recently, this has been a barrier to DoT offering BPAY as a payment option on the six million vehicle and driver licencing invoices it issues annually," he said.

The Department of Transport advises customers upfront that payments not meeting its criteria will be returned to them via the Scheme.

"Should an incorrect payment be made, DoT can now decline the payment and know the funds will be returned to the correct person through the BPAY system," Hughes said. "If the funds were returned via cheque or EFT, they could only be returned to the registered vehicle owner and this may not be the person who made the payment."

A trial of BPAY's new functionality was undertaken for six months, from October 2009 to March 2010, and the numbers certainly prove the popularity of BPAY among DoT's customer base.

Well over 300,000 payments-representing around 10 per cent of DoT's total transactions-were made via BPAY during the trial period. Customers were offered the convenience of BPAY to pay 11 different invoice types, from driver licence renewals to vehicle licence transfers and infringement notices.

The numbers are continuing to trend up, with BPAY payments now accounting for just over one in five of DoT's total transactions. BPAY provides an online payment option for customers wanting to pay from their cheque or savings account, and an alternative to paying via credit card.

Hughes says the introduction of BPAY has also led to a decrease in the number of over-the-counter payments, with roughly 30 per cent of the take up of BPAY coming from over-the-counter payment options.

"Clearly there is a strong demand for BPAY among DoT's customer base. Since BPAY was introduced, DoT has also seen a decline in the number of requests from customers wanting a BPAY payment option," he said.

"In the coming months we will be working with DoT to investigate additional opportunities for inclusion of BPAY as a payment option," he said. Requests to become a Fixed Payment Biller must be assessed by the BPAY Management Committee. To learn more about this new capability, contact your Financial Institution.

Fixed Payment Biller trial a great success

If we're in any doubt as to how fundamental the smartphone has become, then consider this: Australians would prefer to go without food for a day than be without their smartphones (source: news.com.au).

The same study, on behalf of INQ Mobile, showed teenagers were particularly fanatical about their phones, preferring to lose their wallets instead.

We send emails, make flight bookings, search for restaurants and do our banking all in the time it takes to catch the train home from work.

BPAY joined the shift in the way consumers seek information in February, launching our own smartphone-enabled website.

In just a few short months the site has received some 17,900 hits-equating to 4 per cent of the traffic to the BPAY website. This is a number which we expect to grow in the upcoming months.

The non-transactional site allows smartphone users to find out which bills can be paid via BPAY and which Financial Institutions offer BPAY and mobile banking.

The new mobile site, a summarised version of the current BPAY site, is proving to be a handy resource as Australians increasingly expect mobile access to information on everything from banking and business to weather and entertainment.

To view the BPAY mobile site, go to: www.bpay.com.au from your mobile phone.

Big milestones in the life of BPAY

Australians are big on big things. The big pineapple in Queensland, the big prawn and the big banana in New South Wales and the big koala in Victoria. We think BPAY has cemented itself as another 'big' alongside these well-loved Aussie icons.

It's only the halfway point and already 2011 has produced some big moments in the history of BPAY. We've notched up some impressive milestones which we're proud to share with you...

Biller Numbers Jump
Back in 1997 a new brand entered the Australian market. 'BPAY' was a new concept in the payments industry with just 35 Billers. Businesses were quick to recognise the benefits of BPAY, and came on board in droves. Today-almost 15 years later-an impressive 20,000 Billers and over 20,000 Sub Billers now offer Australians the ease of paying via BPAY.

Record-breaking Processing
Millions of Australians have also become BPAY fans. The biggest processing day in the Scheme's history arrived on 27 April this year-a whopping 2.4 million payments worth a staggering A$2.1 billion.

May has proven to be the highest processing month in BPAY history. In BPAY's record month, 27.24 million payments were processed-equal to more than one payment for every Australian.

BPAY View Kicking Goals
As BPAY View fast approaches its 10th birthday, we continue to witness the environmental benefits of this increasingly popular technology with over 2.2 million registrations to date. A record one million BPAY View bill summaries were processed and presented in March alone.

BPAY has gone from strength to strength, becoming entrenched as a key payments tool for businesses as it continues to exceed expectations.