Online bill paying is nothing new. Consolidated bill payment services online aren't very new either. However, as I was researching one of the many fledgling, service cost reduction offerings, namely BillShrink.com, that little light bulb went off again in the back of my head.What I am thinking about is this; Now that we can conduct virtually any financial transaction online, why doesn't someone put together a complete and comprehensive online billing consolidation and cost reduction service? Microsoft has been providing something similar to my idea, but their service requires constant user interface, and I don't believe that it provides comparison shopping for alternative services. With my concept, the consolidation agency would take over all aspects of bill paying for the subscriber, up to and including continual comparison shopping for cheaper or better services for it's subscribers. I believe that, until now, bill consolidation services have merely been payment transactors. I'm saying that it's time for them to become far more proactive.
Each subscriber would provide a routing number to their creditors, to which the subscriber's monthly statements would be forwarded for payment. The bill consolidation service would check each of the subscriber's bills for accuracy and authenticity, would forward payment to the creditor from an account designated by the subscriber, and would dispatch a receipt for each payment. Then, a monthly statement of all billing payment transactions would be sent to the subscriber. This part is pretty much standard fare.
The newly added bonus would be in the form of a comparison shopping feature. For a small monthly fee, consumers could have the bill consolidation service do a comparison sweep for them every month. For instance, upon making the subscriber's monthly auto insurance premium payment, the system could be set up to make an immediate comparison sweep of auto insurance offerings using that subscriber's profile. Then, if the sweep turns up a better deal, the subscriber would be notified. It would be an added coup, if the consumer could then tell the consolidation service to initiate the change of insurance providers. This same service could apply to cell phone service providers, Internet service providers, credit card issuers, and more.
Of course, there would have to be serious protective measures in a system like this, both for the consumers and for the creditors. There is potential for some very serious problems. Additionally, many people might balk at the idea of losing so much direct control of who gets their money and when. Also consider what might happen if a subscriber suffers a serious financial setback and cannot provide the funding for their consolidated billing account, or who would be responsible if the billing consolidation service recommended a new service provider which ended up costing the customer more? These and many other fine details would have to be addressed.
Even with the potential pitfalls, I think this is a timely idea. I expect that I might not be the first armchair engineer who thought it up. A few million dollars and some extremely burly servers just might get the concept on to a workbench somewhere. I guess it wouldn't surprise me if someone is already working on it right at this very moment.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-16-2008 @ 12:20AM
barry said...
I started a new business this prior year. Consumer Debt Mitigation Services, we are a complete online help service and deal with debt mitigation, foreclosure assistance, credit card and auto loan mitigation and Chapter 13 bankruptcy.
We invest 100's of thousands of dollar in program and system applications.
With the financial crisis we have lost our equity and business lines of credit... We have a great detailed business plan... but have no idea how to raise venture capital... we are functioning and in business but need to grow but without a cash influx, we will not be able to capitalize on this market...
SO how do you suggest finding investors and venture capitalist... any ideas email me.. barrys@fbco-op.com or visit our website at www.federalforeclosureassistancecenter.com
12-10-2008 @ 11:30AM
Dylan said...
Gary, I like your idea about bill consolidation. While albeit not as sweeping as what you're talking about, I would encourage you to check out another online service that focuses exclusively on reducing the money pit that many consumers know as their cell bill. Thousands of people are achieving serious savings through the website http://www.fixmycellbill.com by a company called Validas. On average, Validas currently saves T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, and US Cellular customers 22 percent, equating to $484 annually, off their cell bills. I personally save $230 per year through Validas and I have been so impressed with these results that I recently took a job with the company.
Validas offers a significantly more comprehensive service than other competitors in the sector. Here’s a quick breakdown of how it actually works. Validas analyzes your online cell bill for free and calculates how much money you could be saving. It turns out that eight of ten wireless customers are paying more than they need to for their plans. Validas fixes these discrepancies by tailoring a customer’s plan to fit their specific needs. If you choose, Validas provides your personalized cell bill adjustment report that is emailed, for five bucks, to your wireless provider in industry specific format so you can actually implement Validas’s cash saving changes. If Validas can save you more than $5 on your bill, this obviously provides a very cost effective solution.
Validas is rapidly gaining a reputation as the preeminent advocate for the wireless customer. Check out a feature about the company on The Big Idea with CNBC’s Donny Deutsch at http://www.cnbc.com/id/22782456/. Any cell subscriber who wants to cut costs should consider Validas. It’s free to consult and you only stand to save.
Dylan