Question

Invoiceless billing has been adopted by many large businesses for business-to-business transactions. What are the barriers, if any, to its use in sales to consumers?

Answer 1

Barriers of Invoiceless Printing

Invoiceless pricing has been adopted by some large businesses for B2B transactions. What are the barriers, if any, to its use in B2C commerce? The primary barrier is consumer resistance to or fear of online bill payment in general.

Many companies are trying to incent their customers to sign up for automatic bill-pay.The primary barrier is consumer resistance to or fear of online bill payment in general. However,there are also problems on the seller side-particularly in regards to billing disputes. A relatedissue is the threat of asset misappropriation- how easily can the seller attempt to recover itemssold to the consumer.

Why the slow adoption of electronic billing? Here are five of the barriers preventing some customers from saying good-bye to paper payments:

1. Comfort

Paper billing is familiar. People understand how the process works. Except for the occasional misplaced invoice or check, there isn't a lot of hassle involved.

2. Technophobia

By contrast, many paper devotees are leery of credit cards, mobile payments and online transactions. They have security concerns and worry about how their financial data are stored. This trend is especially prevalent among senior citizens.

3. Lost Profitability

Because of the above, many businesses don't want to miss out on potential sales. When you rely exclusively on electronic billing, you forfeit the countless consumers (and suppliers) who:

• Don't have credit cards
• Don't use online banking
• Don't have computers
• Don't have smartphones

4. Hidden Financial Cost

Many businesses and consumers are unaware of the financial cost of sending, receiving and processing paper-based transactions. Companies often overlook the $4 to $20 in employee resources spent on each paper check within their system. Consumers often ignore the transactional cost of physically driving to banks and post offices to manage their expenses.

5. Hidden Environmental Cost

An even larger cost is the carbon footprint that every paper transaction leaves. Again, this environmental toll is largely hidden from view, and many businesses and consumers are unaware of how destructive paper billing truly is.