Commonwealth Bank -- which has 1.5 million NetBank customers around Australia and South East Water, an enterprise owned by the Victorian government and which supplies water to 1.3 million people on 545,000 properties in south-east Melbourne - are BPAY's first participating bank and biller to BPAY View.
BPAY View, an extension to the BPAY bill-paying service, works in conjunction with Internet banking sites to allow consumers to receive their bills electronically. Customers are alerted to new bills via e-mail and can access bill summaries or a detailed bill, which is retrievable from the biller's server by clicking a link from the summary.
Paying a bill is also easier with BPAY View as the biller and account codes, as well as the amount payable, are preloaded into the payment screen.
Chris Lee, South East Water's marketing and business development manager, said the time was right to offer Internet bill presentment as one in two households now has Internet access.
South East Water said it chose BPAY View as it provided a natural progression for existing BPAY users who are already familiar with their current Internet banking sites and because it required little additional infrastructure.
BPAY is already as popular as paying bills over the counter or with a credit card over the phone, according to BPAY general manager, Linda Hemstrom. Fifty percent of BPAY transactions by volume and 57 percent by value are already performed via the Internet, she said, adding that BPAY View is a natural progression for banks and billers.
BPAY View was developed in conjunction with the ANZ, Commonwealth, National Australia Bank, St George and Westpac, and is available to all financial institutions and billers participating in BPAY.
The service will expand in a phased rollout, according to Hemstrom and over 50 percent of Internet banking users would be able to use the service by February, she said.
Bernadette Fifield, the Commonwealth's general manager eComm, said billers expected to join the system within the next six months include ANZ, Commonwealth, National and Westpac cards, utilities such as AlintaGas, Country Energy, Ergon Energy, Primus and Yarra Valley Water, and retailer David Jones.
Stephen Withers holds shares in the National Australia Bank.
