Electronic invoicing for consumer services is fast becoming the norm for telecoms service providers. Operators are riding the wave of heightened environmental awareness, promoting ‘going green’ as a primary motivation for migration to e-billing. Examples of recent e-billing marketing campaign slogans include Batelco’s “Go-E, Save a Tree” and Verizon’s “Get Your Green On”.
Win–win situation?
The shift from paper bills to e-bills offers significant benefits to the environment, in terms of reducing the amount of wood felled to manufacture paper and the amount of fuel used to deliver it. There are also clear cost savings and efficiency benefits, although most operators are reluctant to quantify these publicly because they detract from the ‘doing good’ message that operators are using to tempt customers into accepting the changeover.
Consumers also stand to gain from ‘going ‘e’’, though arguably less than providers. Besides the sense of satisfaction gained from helping the environment, customer benefits include the ability to access bills at any time, manipulate billing information and control the timing of payments. Operators often tie e-billing to direct debit payment, which aside from the obvious benefits for the service provider also offers greater ease-of-use and potential cost savings for the consumer, when compared with paying by cheque or cash.
However, the introduction of e-billing has not been without headaches for operators – particularly in cases where they levy charges against consumers that continue to take paper bills. Customers may struggle to understand why operators that have previously built paper billing into the cost of providing services are now demanding additional payments for it, as is often the case. There is also public concern that this approach is potentially punitive for some of the most vulnerable socioeconomic groups – for example, senior citizens, those living in poorly served rural areas and those without the economic means to pay for Internet access.
Several operators have already had to respond to the consumer backlash against charges for paper billing.
- Kingston Communications in the UK announced in December 2008 that it was delaying the introduction of a GBP1 (EUR1.1) per bill charge that had been previously scheduled to come into force in January 2009.
- Vodafone New Zealand announced in October 2008 that it would introduce a NZD1.50 (EUR0.6) charge per bill from March 2009, which it later retracted, following consumer objections. The operator’s press release on the subject opens with, “Well, that didn’t work, did it?”, and concludes: “So…we’ve decided to do a u-turn … now you can get your bill in the post each month … and it won’t cost a penny.”1
- In Australia, Telstra has made its Pensioner Discount and Disability Program customers exempt from its AUD2.20 (EUR1.2) fee and Health Care Card users will be able to apply for individual exemptions.
Carrot, not stick
Operators should bear in mind that a move to electronic bill presentation can represent a significant behavioural change for consumers – particularly when coupled with migration from cash or cheque payments to direct debit. Recognising this, a number of operators are taking more-gradual approaches to introducing e-billing, offering customers incentives to make the change rather than penalising those who do not (see Figure 1).
| Name of operator and country |
Marketing message |
Launch date |
Description of initiative |
| Batelco (Bahrain) |
"Go-E, Save a Tree" |
August 2009 |
Subscribers switching to the
e-billing service receive 50 free
on-net minutes, or 200 on-net SMS messages, or free ringback tones for three months |
| Idea Cellular (India) |
None |
September 2009 |
Launched a promotion for its 'Get Your Green On' sweepstakes, offering a Toyota Prius Hybrid as the grand prize for customers who switch to paperless billing |
| Verizon (USA) |
"Get Your Green On" |
August 2009 |
Launched a free service allowing customers to access bills online as well as receive monthly bills via email. Customers also have the option to pay bills through the
e-billing site, by credit or debit card |
Figure 1: Selected operator e-billing initiatives [Source: Analysys Mason, 2009]
As Internet blogs and complaints to local newspapers and regulators demonstrate, consumers also expect to see a share of operators’ cost savings from ‘going ‘e’’ or, at least, for operators to make a contribution to the environment. For example, Verizon pledges to plant a tree for each customer who enrols in paperless billing. Hutchison Australia donates AUD1000 (EUR620) to the environmental organisation Greening Australia for every 1% of its customer base that moves to e-billing. Operators would do well to bear this cautious approach in mind when seeking to drive e-billing adoption. Clearly, synergies will be best achieved when migration to e-billing occurs across the whole customer base, but on such a complex and sensitive issue, big changes start with small steps.
1 Vodafone (Auckland, New Zealand, 2009), Vodafone's paper-based bill lives on. Available at: http://www.vodafone.com/start/media_relations/news/local_press_releases/
new_zealand/new_zealand_press/vodafone_s_paper-based.html.