Fiserv (NASDAQ: FISV), a leading provider of information technology services to the financial industry, and PSCU Financial Services, the nation's largest credit union service organization (CUSO), announced today that they will co-sponsor an e-mail marketing campaign targeting consumers of financial institutions served by PSCU Financial Services to become a part of their Go Paperless, Go Green Campaign.
The two companies will sponsor the planting of one tree for every bill paid online by a new bill-pay subscriber at the financial institution's website from Jan. 19 through Feb. 28, 2009. This year, the two companies have set a goal of planting at least 7,000 trees in the John M. Bethea State Forest in Glen St. Mary, Fla.
"Our campaign taps into the growing influence of environmental concerns on American consumer behavior," said Leslie Reistrup, director of eServices at PSCU Financial Services. "Our objective is to educate members of participating financial institutions about how they can make a difference by taking positive steps like signing up for e-bills and paying bills online."
PSCU Financial Services' PayLynx online bill payment platform is powered by Fiserv's industry-leading CheckFree Web RXPSM electronic billing and payment service. The platform allows credit union members to easily control payment dates, receive email reminders and manage all payments from a central webpage, along with reducing their paper footprint. Credit union members can register for PayLynx on their financial institution's website.
"We believe many of our credit union members are motivated to make changes in their everyday habits out of a growing concern for the environment," said Martha Peters, senior vice president, Alternate Delivery Channels, DFCU Financial. "By giving members a wonderful opportunity to contribute to a healthier environment and plant a tree on their behalf, we believe we can increase online bill payment adoption."
This is the third year that Fiserv has teamed up with its customers and the Arbor Day Foundation to plant trees for new e-bills and online bill payments made by consumers during the Go Paperless, Go Green Campaign. Co-sponsored by Fiserv and six of its financial institution customers, the 2008 campaigns resulted in the planting of almost 80,000 trees and thousands of new e-bill enrollments.
"When we established our Go Paperless, Go Green Campaign in 2007, we wanted to help American consumers understand the positive impact they could have on the environment simply by adopting eco-friendly habits like receiving and paying bills online," said Todd Lesher, division president, Fiserv Electronic Banking Services. "In these challenging economic times, it's also important to highlight that paying bills online can also help consumers cut the cost and time-consuming chore of writing and mailing checks. The fact that consumer adoption of online bill pay and e-bills has significantly increased over the past two years shows that consumers are recognizing the convenience, organizational, environmental and money saving benefits of using these online banking services."
Turning off paper bills may seem like a small change, but it can have a big collective impact on preserving the world around us. According to Javelin Strategy & Research, if every U.S. household switched to e-bills, online statements and payments, we could save 16.5 million trees, reduce solid waste by 1.6 billion pounds, and reduce toxic air pollutants by 3.9 billion pounds, the equivalent of having 355,015 fewer cars on the road. In one day, a single tree can provide cleaner air for up to four people and discharge up to 100 gallons of water from the ground into the air, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Fiserv sponsors a consumer website, eBILLPLACE.com, where the public can learn about the environmental and financial benefits of online bill pay and e-bills through videos, consumer tips and calculators that assess the environmental, cost and time savings of receiving and paying bills online. Fiserv is a member of the PayItGreenTM Alliance, the environmental initiative of NACHA, the Electronic Payments Association. The PayItGreen Alliance, comprised of more than 20 financial and consumer billing companies, focuses on educating consumers and businesses about the positive environmental impact of choosing electronic bills, statements and payments instead of paper.