BillingTree and Solutions by Text Extend Special Offer Deadline on SMS for Billing and Payments

PHOENIX, Feb. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- BillingTree®, one of the nation's leading on-demand payment processors has joined with business partner, Solutions by Text, in a unique initiative to enable utilities and billers to experience the value of text messaging for bill presentment and payment authorization, and to allow them to quickly test alternative uses of SMS alerts, for example service outage information.

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As part of the initiative, Solutions by Text makes it easy for utilities and other direct billers to set up a text-based service using a simple 4 stage implementation strategy. This provides best practice procedures to ensure billers have the proper customer consent, correct cell phone numbers, and confirmation of ownership of the mobile devices. It also offers a portfolio of business templates to enable billing organizations to build a message bank of appropriate text messages.

For utilities and billers adopting the offer by March 30, 2012, Solutions by Text will waive its standard SMS set up fee, and waive the monthly fee for the first 90 days. There is no long term contract lock-in and messages cost between $.03 and $.05 each. A BillingTree merchant account application is required for this offer, and to process the text authorized payments.

Details regarding the solution and the limited time offer are available at http://tinyurl.com/7jf3pxf or contact Art Coutcher directly at [email protected].

"According to CTIA figures, in the last 5 years texting in the US has increased to 6.2 billion text messages sent each day and it is now one of the preferred means of communication for many of our utilities customers," said Art Coutcher, Utilities Sales Manager, BillingTree. "This offers real opportunities for utilities and billers to use modern communications to improve their DSO and, at the same time, provide better service to their users."

"Until now many utilities have been deterred by the complexity of setting up 'Best Practice' messaging solutions," commented Mike Cantrell, President, Solutions by Text. "It is because of this that we have introduced the 4 stage implementation strategy which condenses our many years' experience into a very simple procedure which ensures compliance with the various regulations governing the process."

BillingTree supplies the leading fully integrated, multi-channel electronic payment platform to a growing list of Industries, including Insurance, Utilities, such as power, cable, municipal, and phone, as well as Healthcare and Subscription-billed services. Benefits of electronic payment solutions include an accelerated availability of consumer funds, reduced costs associated with manual-payment processing, improved cash management, and integrated processing by managing all payments, returns, and corrections through a single portal.

About Solutions by Text

Solutions by Text is a division of Marketing Response Solutions, and was formed in 2008 to identify and streamline communication efficiencies in the PDL and Rent to Own industries based on text messaging. With a solid foundation of understanding the need to communicate with customers through text, SBT has advanced its business model to include utility companies, the medical billing industry and self-storage industry. SBS business consultancy services help customers develop training resources to improve conversion, tweak message templates to stimulate response and adjust message delivery and frequency to improve customer service.

About BillingTree

The proven leader in on-demand payment processing, BillingTree empowers customers with competitive advantage through a simplification of the billing and receivables process. By delivering the most innovative technology while making it as easy and inexpensive as possible to accept payments, BillingTree has revolutionized the payments landscape. Our software-as-a-service (SaaS) model delivers industry-leading payment solutions, proven integration, and point-and-click simplicity. BillingTree's focus on innovation has allowed us to help more than 2,000 customers eliminate manual processes and automate their payment cycles. BillingTree – Growth is our Business. For more information, visit www.mybillingtree.com or call 877.4.BILLTREE.

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SOURCE BillingTree