Paytrust, a new Web-based service
providing consumers with one-stop bill delivery, payment and management, said
it plans to open two additional national bill processing centers “in response
to explosive consumer demand.”
The new centers, located in Chicago and San Francisco, will be opened during
the third quarter. Costs were not disclosed.
In the last three weeks, the Paytrust said its site has seen a five-fold
increase in traffic and a ten-fold increase in sign-up rate, indicating
strong consumer demand for its online bill delivery and payment service. The
new processing centers will allow Paytrust to optimize the conversion of
large volumes of consumers’ bills by processing them closer to their point of
origin, speeding delivery for the consumer.
“We’re committed to impeccable customer service and are opening these
processing centers to maintain same-day delivery of scanned bills as we grow,” said Edward G. McLaughlin, co-founder and CEO of Secure Commerce Services,
the company behind the Paytrust service.
Paytrust works with any biller and any bank to deliver 100 percent of a
consumer’s bills to a single, secure Web site. The service directs payments
to billers from consumers’ pre-existing checking accounts. Following a free
trial period, subscribers pay $7.95 for up to 25 transactions.
Consumers tell Paytrust the bills they want to receive online and provide the
bank account from which they want payments made. Like a personal assistant,
Paytrust handles all the work and contacts billers to have them send billing
information (electronic or paper bills) to the Paytrust processing center.
Customers then have quick and easy access via the Web to view and pay bills
anytime, anywhere.
The Paytrust Bill Center notifies subscribers via e-mail when a bill has
arrived, and provides access to the secure, password-protected, Paytrust site
where they can see an exact replica of their paper bill containing the same
detailed billing information. Subscribers can choose to pay the bill then or
review it later, and receive email reminders whenever bills are soon due.
They can also designate any bill for automatic payment based on specific
criteria. Paytrust bill data integrates with financial management software
such as Quicken and MS Money, allowing consumers to merge bill payment
records with the rest of their financial information.
