Zumbox says move to paperless billing has "stalled" in US
US digital mail provider Zumbox has said 10 years of transactional mailers to switch to online billing has effectively “stalled”, on the grounds that it is too complicated for consumers. The claim came this week as the Los Angeles-based firm signed up another customer communications company to offer its digital mailbox system as an option for its customers to use in communicating with consumers.
Los Angeles-based Zumbox said signing up Cash Cycle Solutions meant bringing potentially 300 North American businesses to send bills and statements to consumers who have signed up for one of their digital mailboxes.
Cash Cycle Solutions (CCS) is based in Charlotte, North Carolina, with roots in document management services.
The Zumbox option is being made available immediately to CCS customers alongside the existing line-up of electronic payment capabilities offered by CCS. Zumbox said using its digital mailbox to connect with consumers could help encourage more to go digital.
It means a consumer who has signed up for a free Zumbox will receive an exact copy of their paper bills in their digital mailbox.
CCS president and CEO Chris Whitfield said the Zumbox service could help his customers improve their relationship with their customers.
“Zumbox is a perfect fit because it directly addresses a customer desire, which creates revolutionary opportunities for organizations to cut costs and streamline business processes,” he said.
“Stalled”
Zumbox said a decade of effort from transactional mailers to cut costs by encouraging customers to go digital has “stalled”, as more Americans continue to prefer to deal with bills and accounts through the physical mail, rather than lots of different online accounts.
The digital mail provider said national adoption of paperless systems was stuck on 15-20% of the US public, despite the fact that 80% of Americans were regularly carrying out retail transactions online at least weekly. It said regarding digital communications, consumers want a more simple, convenient option where they are in full control of their documents.
Zumbox itself has carried out field tests in the twin cities of Minnesota, Minneapolis and St Paul, in which its users requested paperless options at nearly twice the national average after the first billing cycle. Some 46.5% of those signing up to Zumbox, which allows paper and digital billing to occur side-by-side, chose digital-only billing after the second billing cycle.
John Payne, CEO at Zumbox, said CCS had signed up to the service because it provided the convenience consumers need to make the switch to paperless.
“Our partnership empowers CCS business clients to simply ‘turn on’ Zumbox and instantly communicate more efficiently with customers,” said Payne. “At the same time, CCS’ clients cut costs and increase customer support – the cornerstone of any good business model.”
Zumbox, which launched its service in 2009, already provides its service to transactional mailers through customer communications providers 3i Infotech, Computershare, DST Output, KUBRA and Ricoh Production Print Solutions.
The company is competing in the digital mailbox market place with Hearst Group’s Manilla service, which launched earlier this year, and Pitney Bowes’ Volly, which put back its consumer launch to 2012, along with various online account aggregators that usually require consumers to input all their account details for individual utilities, banks or telecoms companies in order to access the information in one place.
