Online Resources Corp. (NASDAQ: ORCC), a leading provider of Web-based financial services, today announced it is piloting an expedited payments service that enables financial institutions to offer their consumers and small businesses online bill payments that are posted by billers on the same day.
The expedited payments service leverages the Company's unique end-to-end payments network, which links its proprietary financial institution gateway with its extensive biller network. Today, consumers using the pilot financial institutions' web sites may opt to make guaranteed same day bill payments to about 200 billers. With a broader launch planned for the fourth quarter of this year, Online Resources expects to expand the expedited payments option to several hundred billers.
The new service will provide significant benefits across Online Resources' client base:
- Financial institution clients gain an opportunity to better serve their customers and members with a convenient, cost-effective way to expedite their payments. In addition, they gain an added opportunity to generate fee income from the growing market for last minute payments, which is estimated to reach $1.7 billion by 2009, according to a 2007 study by Javelin Strategy & Research.
- Biller clients gain another electronic channel for receiving timely payments. By debiting the consumer's checking account using Online Resources' patented debit technology, the funding is guaranteed to the biller.
"We chose to take advantage of Online Resources' unique payments network to provide our members the added convenience and flexibility of same day payments," said David W. Cummings, chief information officer and vice president of Global Credit Union, a pilot participant based in Spokane, Washington. "This is a cost-effective service that makes our Internet channel even more valuable to our members, particularly those who are active military, many of whom are overseas."
"This value-added service is a first step toward end-to-end real-time payments, and a direct result of linking our unique payments gateway to our recently acquired biller network," said Stephanie S. Chaufournier, executive vice president and general manager of Banking Payments Services for Online Resources. "We can guarantee same day payments for consumers, incorporate another valuable service into our clients' Internet channels, and eliminate the risk of these payments for our biller clients."