America Online is introducing AOL BIll Pay, a new service that provides its 50 million subscribers with a streamlined way to track and pay bills online as well as manage their personal finances.
AOL says it is introducing the service - which presents user bills through its proprietary e-mail service - in response to strong demand from users. The ISP says 60% of members already pay some of their bills online and 67% of those do so at multiple biller websites.
Developed in partnership with account aggregation vendor Yodlee, AOL Bill Pay delivers members' bill summaries to their AOL in-box and connects them directly to billers' Websites for payment. An expense history area provides a means for users to review expenses across their registered accounts and keep a close eye on finances and budgets. Statements are archived for 12 months.
The service can be enhanced with a series of e-mail alerts, for instance notifying users of large transactions on their credit cards, which may be an early indicator of identity theft or fraud.
John Keeling, executive director, personal finance, America Online, comments: "Online bill paying is the number one online financial activity by AOL members and they have told us that they are looking for an easier way to manage their finances online."