Payrailz, a technology provider of payment capabilities for financial institutions (FIs), announced they are piloting the Mastercard Bill Pay Exchange product. This is a bank or credit union centric bill pay solution that offers consumers a choice of payment type when paying bills. Today, most FI bill pay solutions limit the payment option to just the user’s checking account. Sometimes consumers like to use other payment types like credit cards, either for rewards or for those times when they need just a little more time to pay off an expense. Mastercard’s product also offers features like alerts, a simple user experience, and faster payment options, features billers have been offering for some time. More on this partnership announcement:
Payrailz joins a network dedicated to enhancing consumers’ bill pay experience, particularly telecom, utility, rent, credit card, mortgage and other personal bills. The program enables consumers to pay these bills directly through their financial institution by using a single touch point. This removes the need to set up multiple direct accounts with each service provider.
This solution will give billers access to a new billing and payment channel, which can reduce the cost of mailing paper bills and processing checks, provide streamlined reconciliation and lower customer support costs due to added payment transparency. Billers will also have the option of accepting cards, real-time payments or traditional bank account payments as they do on their own websites.
The Mastercard Bill Pay Exchange represents a major shift in the way consumers, billers and financial institutions will handle bill payments,” said Fran Duggan, CEO of Payrailz. “We are honored to be involved in this initiative and see this cooperative approach to transforming the bill pay experience as a necessary and timely development.
Overview by Sarah Grotta, Director, Debit and Alternative Products Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group