Icici Launches Bill Payment Portal

ICICI Ltd has launched a universal bill presentment and payment service called billjunction.com.

A customer can use billjunction.com with out opening a bank account. Infosys Technologies has provided the software, PayAway, for the application. ICICI Bank would be the sponsor bank for the venture.

Universal ability of the system would be made possible as the site would be using the Reserve Bank of India's electronic clearing service mechanism to enable bill payments. ICICI has already tied up with utility service providers including BEST, BPL Mobile, Orange and VSNL, and has also initiated discussions with BSES and MTNL.

Initially the service would be launched only in the city, but is expected to be extended to cities including Delhi, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Pune.

 

Chanda Kochhar, senior general manager and head, e-commerce, ICICI, said, "This is the only such site in India. Though other sites may come up after this, ICICI would continue to have the first-mover advantage. Billjunction.com has been developed in-house and investments in the same have not been substantial."

Registration charge has been fixed at Rs 10 and is largely a means of identifying customers and their respective bank accounts. ICICI has also fixed a minimum charge of Rs 5 per bill for each of the transactions. Revenue would also be earned by charging the various utility service providers for this facility.

A three-step process would be initiated which would include bill presentment, bill payment and bill archiving. Customers would also be sent an e-mail notification each time a new bill arrives. They could then review the bills online and schedule payments.