Check It Out: Incentives to Pay Bills Online

December 7, 2004 10:39 PM

Check It Out: Incentives to Pay Bills Online

Excerpt: Financial institutions, eager to get more consumers to pay their bills online, are offering a new incentive: cash.

Financial institutions, eager to get more consumers to pay their bills online, are offering a new incentive: cash.

Citigroup Inc.'s Citibank introduced a promotion in October offering as much as $200 to new online bill-paying customers, depending on the number of bills they pay electronically. The promotion runs until the end of the year.

At Wells Fargo & Co., customers in certain markets who are new to the service can get $10 if they pay at least one bill online by January. E*Trade Financial Corp. is paying $25 to customers who pay at least two bills online and hold specific types of accounts. Last month, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. ran a sweepstakes where customers in select markets received a chance to win a grand prize of $5,000 if they paid bills electronically. Online bill-pay services allow individuals to transfer funds electronically from their accounts directly to a biller.

The cash incentives are the latest effort by banks to build their online business, which many see as key to cutting costs and to retaining customers over the long term. Financial institutions face growing competition from the Web sites of billing companies, such as utilities, that offer online bill-pay at no charge. In response, many institutions have eliminated fees for their bill-paying services. But as free bill paying has become the norm, banks and credit unions have had to find other ways to spur use of their services.

READ FULL STORY ...

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Read all 22 posts in the same category of Banking:

Going Online To Balance Family Budget - Feb 17, 2005
Banks Speed Process For Opening Online Accounts - Feb 04, 2005
Online Banks Are Boosting Yields - Jan 15, 2005
Online Banks Are Boosting Yields - Jan 15, 2005
Momentum Is Gaining for Cellphones as Credit Cards - Jan 10, 2005
Rebels With A Cause, And A Business Plan - Jan 01, 2005
Banks Boost Customer Incentives, But Rates on Savings Remain Low - Dec 27, 2004
Online Bill Paying: How To Get Started - Dec 27, 2004
Banks Test ID Device for Online Security - Dec 24, 2004
Paper Checks Going Bye-Bye? - Dec 08, 2004
'Gift Cards' May Come Loaded With Fees - Nov 29, 2004
Where To Keep Your Rainy Day Fund - Nov 29, 2004
What's Your Bill-Paying Personality? - Nov 28, 2004
Debit Cards Lack Protections Of Credit Cards - Nov 28, 2004
A New Era In Banking Begins - Nov 25, 2004
Automatic Debit Scams - Nov 22, 2004
Bank Accounts Fail To Follow Fed's Lead - Nov 12, 2004
ChexSystems Puts Him In Penalty Box - Nov 09, 2004
"Check 21" Starting in Late October - Nov 03, 2004
Gift Cards 04 - Nov 03, 2004
Save Electronic Checks for Your Taxes - Nov 01, 2004

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