CyberGuide
EPP Options
FROM: JUL-AUG 2004 ISSUE | BY ROBIN DAY
The concept of Electronic Presentment and Payment (EPP) is hardly new. After all, work on a common interchange format for electronic data began in the 1960s. What is new is the variety of EPP solutions available to consumers and small businesses. The following information doesn’t provide insight on how to motivate customers to pay on time, but switching to EPP does eliminate “the check is in the mail” from the list of excuses for late bill payment.
www.ebilling.org
eBilling.org is a great starting point for those new to the field of EPP. The site provides a glossary, several white papers, and in-depth definitions of commonly used terms. The slide show, Building a Business Case for EBPP, is about as dry as they come, but the information is first rate.
www.emergis.com
BCE Emergis is a leading EPP service provider. Its Web site provides valuable information on how EPP services function. Some interesting metrics are given in the Company section — take a look at the report on Celent Communications under Awards and Accolades.
www.epost.ca
epost is Canada Post’s entry into the EPP market. This service is free to consumers and offers a variety of payment methods. The list continues to grow as the system gains popularity.
www.alysis.com/solutions/buzz/gigaanlyst2.pdf
Published in 2001 by the Giga Information Group, this white paper explores selecting an EPP vendor. Some of the information is dated, but the evaluation criteria are worth a look.
Now that you know how easy EPP can be you have no excuse for not getting with the program and setting up an EPP solution. Or you can just keep looking for those cheques that are “in the mail”…
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Robin Day, MBA, CGA, teaches financial management at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. He is also president of Virtual Information Technologies Inc.E-mail rday@virtualit.ca.