Billag now also offering e-bill option

Starting immediately, Switzerland's third-largest biller is introducing an easier way to pay radio and TV licence fees – Allianz Suisse, Helsana Group and Sanitas Group are now also enabling their customers to receive and pay bills electronically.

Zurich, 05 June 2008. E-billing is becoming increasingly popular and Billag Ltd. is now also offering its three million customers the option of receiving their bills electronically via e-banking and paying online. As Billag sends out one bill per customer each quarter, this means that up to 12 million bills per year could be paid electronically. The tedious task of typing out columns of figures, which is prone to mistakes, and filing away paper bills will become a thing of the past. And with the e-bill system, customers still retain full control over when, and indeed whether, bills are paid.

Other major billing organizations, such as Allianz Suisse, Helsana Group, comprising the health insurance companies aerosana, avanex, Helsana, Progrès and sansan, and Sanitas Group, have also introduced e-billing for their customers. Today, the main companies backing the e-bill system are the major players in the telecommunications, energy, credit/customer card and health insurance sectors. For example, all telecommunications companies already offer the e-bill option, as do more than half of all health insurance companies.

The e-bill system is supported by most Swiss banks and PostFinance. Anyone with an e banking contract can register for the e-bill service directly in e-banking and start saving time and reducing their environmental footprint. The e-bill service is free for e-banking customers.

To be able to receive and pay bills electronically, customers first need to activate the e-bill function under the menu item "e-bill" in their e-banking portal. They can then register for the e-bill service by selecting their e-billers from the list of billers. Their next bill will then already arrive in electronic form. Before paying, the customer can open and check the bill in PDF format via a secure link.

When customers come to pay their e-bills they no longer need to type in any data manually. The reference number, the amount, the due date and the account to be credited are displayed to the customer and can be confirmed at the click of a mouse to clear the bill for payment. Where necessary, customers can adjust the amount or the due date and are also able to select the account to be debited. Customers always have an overview of e-bills received and paid and are alerted to newly received e-bills when they log in.