Latest Research Reveals What It Takes To Sell Bill Pay-And Why.

Major banks are anticipating major growth in electronic bill presentment and bill pay (EBPP) in the near future.

"EPBB has actually been the hottest online growth application in the past two years," said Terrie O'Hanlon of CheckFree Corp.

The reasons banks are chasing the EBPP market was made obvious during the Bank Administration Institute's (BAI) Retail Delivery Show here, which attracts thousands of bankers from around the world. Also obvious was that banks are increasingly willing to lose money on the front-end of the EBPP relationship because they anticipate covering those costs and generating significant revenues as a result further down the road.

O'Hanlon said that between 2000 and 2001 there was a 12% growth rate in the people who tried to pay a bill online for the first time (sending electronic greetings was the fastest growing online practice, followed by visiting an online music site. "The awareness that you can send and pay a bill online is now 99% among the online community," said …