Joe Scharfenberger, executive vice president, Chase small business financial services, comments: "We are committed to equipping our customers with comprehensive services that support the transition from paper-based billing to electronic billing, and we strongly believe Derivion offers best-in-class technology to do that."

Chase recently participated in a $40 million third-round funding effort for Derivion. The Derivion package incorporates the design of the online bill, setting up interfaces to the accounting packages, presenting the bills, and launching the customer enrollment process. Costs are based on a transaction fee for each bill presented.

"Small businesses are particularly focused on the billing process and generating increased cash flows," says Greg Rable, Derivion's CEO. "E-billing provides a strategic weapon that can be used to reduce payment cycles and fuel business growth. Derivion's solution eliminates the need for large capital investments, complicated integrations, and long implementation cycles, making it a perfect solution for these companies."

Chase plans to promote businesses that use this e-billing service into its electronic bill payment network Spectrum, founded with First Union and Wells Fargo.

Derivion's latest e-billing solution focuses on small billers and complements Chase's existing electronic bill presentment service, Chase e>stream EBPP, which is geared toward larger billers such as utility, telecom, and finance companies. In addition, Chase will be rolling out a consumer e-billing service later this year.

"Together, Chase and Derivion are targeting a critical market segment with their online solution," says Avivah Litan, research director for GartnerGroup's financial services. "With an emphasis on enabling small to mid-tier billers, these companies are pairing to strategically hit a new market segment for online billing."

Recently, the GartnerGroup released a survey finding that outsourcing services is a popular choice for billers starting up Internet billing operations. In addition, the survey found that most billers expect financial institutions to take an active role in Internet billing because of the high level of consumer trust in banks. Gartner notes that banks need to partner with e-billing companies to achieve a leading market position because speed to market is critical.