eBillme in E-Payment

Juliann Virginia,  NIM: 2301885163

eBillme in E-Payment

eBillme is a payment option that allows consumers and small businesses to use online banking to pay now and pay securely with cash. At the moment, there is an introduction to ‘eBillme Teens’. eBillme Teen is a new feature that gives teens, and adults the option to pay in online purchases on their own using an online bank account, or forward electronic bills to their parents to approve purchases and make payments. The Pew Internet &American Life Project reports that 71 per cent of Internet users ages 18 to 32 make purchases online. According to Sallie Mae research, eBillme serves as an easy alternative method to continue buying essentials online responsibly and debt-free. eBillme strongly supports measures in the Cardholder    Bill of Rights that would restrict credit access for consumers under the age of 21, but recognize that this demographic relies on the Internet for banking and online purchases. The new reforms will encourage many consumers to look for credit card alternatives in online payments. Therefore, by offering eBillme as a safe and debt-free payment option to be provided by online merchants.

eBillme is easy to use. At the time the buyer selects the option at checkout, their order will be confirmed with an eBill delivered to the user’s email address. Consumers simply pay eBill through their online checking or savings account the same way they pay utilities, loans, insurance, and other bills. These transactions take place securely, between banks, without the necessary personal or financial information or transmitted over the Internet. Personal or financial information is not shared with merchants.

In addition, consumers who click on the eBillMe sign at the checkout for the e-tailer can pay with their online bank account. Then consumers send emails containing payment details from their online bank accounts. After the consumer enters the information into the online bank account, the consumer receives a receipt and the product is sent. These payment alternatives appeal to people who are concerned about the security of paying with cards online or don’t have cards available easily.

A small but significant percentage of consumers, it turns out, like to pay this way. To get started, eBillMe persuaded ToolKing to offer eBillMe upon check-out. A small percentage of customers use this payment alternative. eBillMe then went to other online retailers. Each led to eBillMe having more people accustomed to using its services. For every subsequent merchant, eBillme goes on to offer increasingly valuable deals as it has more users who are likely to use these payment alternatives. At the same time, Google tells its users that they can pay in more places, thus increasing value for merchants. eBillMe expanded from one merchant and hundreds of users during its first year of entry in 2005 to hundreds of online stores that took up 2 per cent to 10 per cent of merchant transaction volume in 2008. Some platforms like eBillMe can start with one member on one side being used to attract members on the other. More generally, the platform should have many members from both sides. Therefore, they need to persuade a minimum number of early users on both sides to appear at the beginning of the platform in order to be trustworthy. To that end, both parties must believe that when the platform is opened for business, there will be other party members present.

References:

Gawer, A. (2011). Platforms, Markets and Innovation. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Finextra. (2009). EBillme launches an online payments option for teens. Finextra.