PITTSBURGH, PA March 6, 2001 PNC Bank and BillingZone announced last week that they scored a contract with Procter & Gamble Distributing Company (P&G), a mammoth company-customer that is no doubt spawning celebration parties at BillingZone. BillingZone, a B2B electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) service, is a joint venture of PNC Bank and Perot Systems Corporation launched in March 2000. According to its newest contract, P&G will offer online presentment of its invoices through BillingZone on the Internet, while also offering its customers electronic payment ability.
This offering is aligned with P&G's goal of providing additional solutions to our customers leveraging the power of the web, said Craig Brinkman, global accounts receivables manager of P&G. We believe we can reduce our cost-per-invoice, improve cash flow and enhance customer satisfaction via online tracking of inquiries and disputes. P&G customers will also benefit from the ability to schedule payments, automate the dispute process and better manage cash flow.
Electronic bill presentment and payment is designed to achieve the same benefits as EDI (electronic data interchange), sharing electronic data and information between companies while limiting upfront investments and infrastructure costs, said Francine Miltenberger, executive vice president and division executive, PNC Bank Treasury Management. Even customers with no e-commerce experience can now benefit from efficiencies gained through offerings such as EBPP.
P&G was likely attracted to BillingZone because the service provides payers with the ability to view and to pay bills from multiple billers through one online site. Through the BillingZone service, businesses can issue invoices and receive payments as well as track the status of these transactions from multiple vendors or customers that are also BillingZone participants.
Corporations such as P&G are searching for new opportunities to improve operating efficiencies, to transform critical receivables processes and to enhance customer service, said Miltenberger. To meet the needs of our customers, we committed the past 12 months and more than $50 million to pioneer several advanced receivables solutions. One of these efforts was our investment in BillingZone and its EBPP solution.
