BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Invoice Cloud and Mark Altman & Associates (MA&A) have enabled municipalities in Massachusetts to suppress the printing of paper bills through a collaborative paperless billing adoption program. As part of the Massachusetts Municipal Relief Act passed in July 2010, municipalities can now establish voluntary e-billing programs for real estate and personal property bills.
Until now, it has been difficult for municipalities to coordinate the separate activities of bill creation (accounting software), electronic bill presentment, and print/mail of paper bills. The Invoice Cloud – MA&A program offers a complete solution with technology integration between the accounting software, the online “Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP)” service, and the print and mail fulfillment process. Through collaboration, utilities and municipalities in the Northeast are seeing paperless adoption rates well above the industry average.
In a February, 2011 report published by Blueflame Consulting, it is predicted that by 2016 there will be more e-bills presented than paper bills. Invoice Cloud CEO Bob Bennett declares, “The e-bill train has left the station and a rapidly growing group of forward thinking municipal and utility clients have already jumped aboard.” A small sampling of the many Invoice Cloud customers in Massachusetts includes Barnstable, Framingham, Harwich, Hingham, Marblehead Municipal Light District, Maynard, New Bedford, Somerville, and Walpole.
What does it take to make e-bill savings a reality? According to Bennett, “A successful paperless billing and payment program requires 4 basic components:
| 1. The service must be simple, easy to use and optional for residents |
| 2. Residents must have easy access to replicas of their bills online |
| 3. Friendly email reminders that bills are due must be sent to residents |
| 4. Payments, billing software and mailing systems all need to be integrated to create reliability while simplifying life for billers.” |
According to MA&A President and CEO, Mark Altman, “Our collaboration with Invoice Cloud fulfills the promise of EBPP to billers who want to provide better services at lower cost. By integrating marketing communications into the paper billing process and seamlessly collecting and pushing the payer’s desire for paperless billing through to the actual print and mail fulfillment, we are able to deliver the billing model of the future, today.”
About Invoice Cloud, Inc.
Invoice Cloud, Inc. (www.invoicecloud.com) is a web-based, electronic invoice presentment and processing company. Invoice Cloud partners with business software companies and their resellers to provide faster, more convenient and less expensive billing services to their customers. By automating billing and collections, paying customers can click and pay on-line while billing customers save money and help protect the environment.
About Mark Altman & Associates:
Founded in 2001, Mark Altman & Associates is a national leader in print, mail and electronic billing solutions, providing utility, municipal, and a wide-range of other clients with the most comprehensive solution for delivering customer statements. To find out more about our services, please visit our website at www.markaltman.com.