Invoice Processing Costs: How to Pick an Outsourced Bill Printer

The technology of bill delivery has changed in the past few years which has resulted in large potential savings for Billers if they choose the correct Print Outsourcer to produce and send their bills. For example, with the introduction of electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) the overall costs of bill delivery is being dramatically reduced by customers accepting their bills online and choosing not accept a paper bill.

According to a CheckFree study performed in November of 2005, 56% of U.S. Online households are paying at least one bill online, up from 52% in June of 2004. Many of the bigger Billers have taken advantage of this trend and have brought their overall cost of bill delivery down by as much as 30%. The key to realizing substantial savings is asking the right questions. When selecting a Print Outsourcer it is critical to ask the following Ebill questions and investigate whether they have kept up with recent technology.

1. Do you provide Ebilling capabilities and what adoption rates can I expect? Adoption rates are the key to a successful cost savings Ebill program. Adoption rates can bring down the overall cost of your total billing program by up to 30%. The definition of adoption rates is the number of customers that request an electronic bill instead of a paper bill. If you have 10,000 customers and 2,000 of your customers request an electronic bill instead of a paper bill that means you have achieved a 20% adoption rate. A 20% adoption rate can equate to a 15% overall savings in your total bill distribution costs. For example, if you're overall cost of printing and mailing 10,000 bills is $6,200, the potential cost savings for a 20% adoption rate would be $930 leaving your new overall cost at $5,270. 2. What methods do you use to achieve high adoption rates? The Print Outsourcer should be able to send you're bills through the CheckFree Distribution Network. This means that your customers who pay their bills through their banks bill pay site or through the MyCheckFree.com will be able to see their bills in these pay sites. The Print Outsourcer should also provide a wide range of successful adoption programs which include: Bill stuffers, CSR scripts, positive and negative incentive programs, email and internet campaigns, etc. 3. How will you charge me for Ebill? Some Print Outsourcers may be willing to take on the risk of adoption rates. In other words, they may be willing to charge you “One Price” for all bills going out and set the “One Price” at a very low rate. For example, a Print Outsourcer may be willing to charge $.39 for every bill going out. The Print Outsourcer's cost for printing, inserting, 2 envelopes, and postage would be close to the $.39 or maybe even a little higher. However, they will charge $.39 for every bill whether it's an Ebill or a Paper bill. If the Print Outsourcer can send out 20% of the invoices electronically it brings down their overall costs so that they are still profitable. If the Print Outsourcer doesn't perform and bring up adoption rates, they will not make much money. This helps you as a client receive a very low price for bill creation and delivery but also motivate the Print Outsourcer to perform so they can make a profit.

After you have satisfied yourself concerning the prowess of the Print Outsourcer concerning Ebill capabilities, it is still very important to assess the printing abilities of the printer. Although the art and science of printing has been around for many years, some Print Outsourcers have taken advantage of new technology to bring prices down to an all time low in Labor, Materials, and Postage. If you know the tricks you can participate in these cost savings with the Print Outsourcer. Labor cost reductions have been driven down by Intelligent and Selective Inserters. The newer inserters can dramatically reduce the labor cost associated with inserting the bills and stuffers into the envelopes. Labor costs have also been driven down by self help customer care tools. If a Print Outsourcer can give their clients full visibility into the print process which includes seeing job status, viewing invoice output, self proofing of jobs, invoice seeding, etc., then the client demands less customer service from the Print Outsourcer. This brings labor costs down and gives more control to the client to solve their own issues. Material costs have also been reduced substantially by high speed color cut sheet printers. In addition, Printer Outsourcers who print their own forms tend to have a lower cost. Lastly, first class postage costs can be reduced to less than $.30 per piece by commingling.

For savvy Billers who want to save money through Print Outsourcing, these tips will help you choose the correct vendor and get the lowest cost for the best service.

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