News
E-Invoicing is a green alternative any business can take advantage of
November 9, 2011
Contributor: Angela Ross Sementa
Green alternatives are a great way to market cost-saving solutions to customers. Hotels have done it with towels and bedding, phone companies and banks with online bill pay and online statements, and now Premier's merchant partners can offer a Green solution to their customers. Premier's E-Invoicing system (short for Electronic Invoicing) is a fully automated, online method of sending invoices to customers and collecting payment through a secure, customer facing portal. E-Invoicing allows the merchant to create an invoice from a user-friendly interface and send the invoice directly to the client's email address, eliminating the need to send costly paper invoices to their customers.
Customers not only appreciate the Green initiative associated with E-Invoicing, but also enjoy other benefits as well. Customers that are given the ability to remit payment online through the E-Invoicing system are impressed by the obvious security. Customers do not have to worry about their secure information traveling by mail, being taken over the phone, or sent via fax. Despite misleading rumors to the contrary, over 80% of all fraud occurs in the retail environment. Less than 20% of all fraud occurs online. Allowing the customer to enter their own information in the secure link means that no one internally handles the credit card or checking account information. Another benefit of the secure system is, once a customer has been successfully billed through the online system (either E-Invoicing or key entered into the Virtual Terminal) the merchant can easily recharge their customer by locating any successful transaction or, merchants can store cardholder data in the secure customer vault. All data is fully encrypted, meaning the full card number is not displayed but the sophisticated system will decrypt the cardholder data "behind the scenes” for rebilling.
In addition to being able to offer a Green initiative and increasing customer security, another merchant benefit to the E-Invoicing is the ability to control the information submitted along with a transaction. When the customer clicks on the link provided in the invoice, the payment page is pre-populated with the amount owed, invoice number and any other merchant defined field. The merchant can also make fields such as billing address required, ensuring that they qualify for the best possible interchange rate while putting the responsibility on the customer to enter their correct billing address. Upon initiating payment, the customer immediately receives confirmation of either payment acceptance or decline and, in tandem, an email is sent to the merchant notifying of payment made. The merchant is also able to view invoices open, paid and past due online, in real-time, anytime.
According to Thomas Lomax, a Client Relationship Manager at Premier, "Offering customer a Green payment reflects upon the merchant's willingness to adapt to changing times. Customers are demanding online services and quicker, easier payment methods, and Premier offers just that with their E-Invoicing system.”
Other benefits of the E-Invoicing system include:
- Invoice gets in-front of customer faster
- Resend "lost” or "not received” invoices with the click of a button
- Customer can remit payment via credit card or ACH, online, instantly
- Reduce processing of checks
- Decrease time between services rendered and payment received
- Open, paid and past due invoices available online, in real-time
- Easy to use customer and merchant interfaces
- Costs less than a stamp
For a demo of the E-Invoicing system, please contact:
Premier Payment Systems
Sales Department
Monday – Thursday 8:30am – 5:30pm CDT
Fridays 8:30am – 4:00pm CDT
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