Is it time to subscribe to a printer service from HP?

Ever since my dad brought home an...

What’s the best way of buying a phone today?

How did you buy your latest phone?...

MWC: What device highlights did you miss?

So, early last week I predicted that...

Paying bills should be as easy as taking a photo

Just getting in touch with some mobile payment news from IT services company Virtusa.  They’ve recently launched an app that enables customers to pay a bill simply by taking a photo – love it!

Recent research from the British Bankers’ Association (BBA) found that bank branch use is falling by 6% as customers embrace digital advances. The BBA also predict smartphones and tablet banking will outstrip branch use this year. In response to this transformation, Virtusa is meeting the demand for new banking and payment solutions by creating innovative apps like its Mobile Photo Bill Pay.

The app eliminates the need for data input by allowing customers to pay a bill simply by taking a photo, supporting banking at the touch of a button and removing the need to enter information that can be photographed.

The news release is copied in below.Mobile Photo Bill Pay 1

Virtusa, a global business consulting and IT outsourcing company that combines innovation, technology leadership and industry solutions to transform the customer experience, is meeting the rising demand for instant payment solutions amongst banking customers, with innovative apps such as its Mobile Photo Bill Pay tool. Eliminating the need for data input by allowing customers to pay a bill simply by taking a photo, Mobile Photo Bill Pay is an advanced application that is making customers lives easier and enabling banking at the touch of a button.

There is growing demand for mobile banking capabilities that are simple, intuitive and immediate, particularly among Gen Y and Gen Z banking customers. IDC states that 2015 is the tipping point for mobile banking as it will overtake online banking, with the caveat that mobile banking conveniences must continue to innovate in order to make this a reality. Virtusa’s Mobile Photo Bill Pay application meets this criteria by allowing banking customers to easily and securely pay their bills with the snap of a mobile phone or tablet camera. The app then automatically reads and extracts relevant data from the bill, and populates the data fields within the app required to make a payment. It completely removes the need for manual data entry, for using a cheque book or even a computer; enabling customers to pay their bills with minimal input and time, and with just the taking of a photo required.

“Customers are demanding the same speed and simplicity from banking as they enjoy in other areas of their life. For example, if they can order a DVD online with one click of a button, why can’t they pay their bills in the same way? We are seeing increasing adoption of mobile banking, via mobile phones and tablets, and customers are seeking payment solutions that make their life simpler,” said Sameet Gupte, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Europe, Virtusa’s Mobile Photo Bill Pay also helps busy users with financial planning by enabling them to quickly review their spendable and available balance, and to view their payment trends by category. It further allows users to review their payment history, amounts paid to a particular recipient and search their previous bills.

Sameet Gupte continues, “Banks and payment providers that fail to recognise this trend and do not offer their customers simple mobile banking solutions, are going to lose out to non-traditional payment and banking providers. With Mobile Photo Bill Pay, we are eliminating the need for customers to go through the onerous process of typing in various details, amounts and names – and go straight to confirming the payment, saving them time and simplifying the process.”

To watch a video demo of Mobile Photo Bill Pay and learn more, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5iAUfuqqic

 

1 COMMENT

  1. Well for what it is worth this has been a built in feature on my banks WIndows Phone app since I started banking with them over two years ago. Now there may be a couple of reasons for this. Number one in my mind is that in the thirteen years I have lived in Finland I can count on one hand the number of bills I have received that did *not* come with a bar code on the bottom. Number two has been the banks relentless drive to shut branches and even remove the old “bill paying machines” that were in all the branches (essentially a cash machine with a bar code scanner and full qwerty keyboard). So maybe Finland had infrastructure already in place to start with. But if this app works as well as they do over here then I am all for it!

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Recently Published

Is it time to subscribe to a printer service from HP?

Ever since my dad brought home an HP LaserJet printer (version 3, if memory serves), I have been printing with an HP. Over the...

What’s the best way of buying a phone today?

How did you buy your latest phone? I'm asking because I'm thinking about what I should be doing. When I was living in Oman, I...

MWC: What device highlights did you miss?

So, early last week I predicted that next to nothing from Mobile World Congress would break through into the mainstream media. I was right,...

How Wireless Will Pave the Path to Neobank Profitability

I'm delighted to bring you an opinion piece from Rafa Plantier at Gigs.com. I think it's particularly relevant given the recent eSIM news from...

An end of an era: Vodafone UK turns off 3G services

I thought it was worthwhile highlighting this one from the Vodafone UK team. For so long - for what feels like years, seeing the...

Mobile World Congress: Did the mainstream media notice?

I resolved this year to make sure I wrote something - anything - about Mobile World Congress, the huge mobile industry trade show taking...