eBill & Collect FAQs

E-Bill & Collect is an electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) service and provides a configurable payment engine that integrates with your website. It facilitates the presentment of recurring consumer bills and collection (recurring or one-time) via electronic channels. The site is highly configurable and branded to your specifications.

E-Bill & Collect is designed specifically for consumer to business (C2B) payments, which are generally categorized by the relationship between the consumer and the business, as recurring billing, not e-commerce/retail payments. Examples of the recurring billing are: utility bill payments, insurance premium payments, and credit card payments. Examples of e-commerce payments include: retail and online shopping.

Yes, the simple web channel (sometimes called ‘Guest’ or ‘Unenrolled Payments’) allows your customer to make a one-time payment in 3 or 4 steps through a website that does not require them to go through an enrollment process to make the payment.

Key features and options include

• Accessed directly or via Single Sign On (SSO)
• English and Spanish configuration option
• Phone number and email address capture
• Funding source (bank or card) capture, with option to save details for future use
• Same day payments, with option to allow future dated payments
• Display of up to 4 amounts owed, and option to allow entry of any amount
• Option to charge a convenience fee for payment processing
• Customer can review payment before confirming it
• Email sent upon payment confirmation
• Option to redirect customer back to your website to confirm payment if SSO is enabled
• Option to notify biller in real time when a simple web payment is confirmed

Yes, the web portal channel allows your customer to enroll to make payments. It also allows you, the biller, to offer many more features and functions compared to simple web, and is fully self-service for your customer.

Key features and options

• Accessed directly or via Single Sign On (SSO)
• English and Spanish configuration option
• Configurable enrollment flow, with email and funding source capture
• PDF statement bill presentment, paperless billing and other non-payment options
• Recurring biller and invoice biller options
• Option to offer multiple payment types
• Capture and storage of multiple funding sources
• Option to notify you in real time when a web portal payment is confirmed

Yes, we can help you customize the E-Bill & Collect payments page to mirror the look and feel of your website.

We can upload your preferred logo for the site, which can vary between simple web, the web portal and payment center. The logo can be simple logo image or a full width banner can be created that fits seamlessly at the top of the page.

The color scheme for all aspects of the customer site is controlled through a cascading style sheet (CSS), which can be edited to allow the color scheme of the site to mirror that of your site.

Any of the static text on the site can be edited to have any specific messaging, or to mirror the words used on the bill statement/invoice received by your customer. This includes the descriptions of amounts owed. Then, the words and amounts on the site reflect those on the bill in your customer’s hand or on the payments screen.

Yes, your customer can view and make payments from a mobile device. Access is also supported from different devices, through the use of responsive web design (RWD). This technology recognizes the size of the screen on the device that is being used to access the website and renders the page correctly for that screen, by altering the position of text labels, shortening text, etc.

Yes, the IVR channel (sometimes called VRU or Automated Telephone) allows your customer to make a one-time payment using a cell phone, and does not require enrollment to make the payment.

Key features and options

• Accessed directly or via a call transfer from your telephone system
• Toll free number option
• Pre-recorded prompts, supplemented by dynamic text to speech (TTS) robot
• English and Spanish configuration options
• Uses key presses to capture
• Funding source capture, with option to save details for future use
• Same day payments only
• Read back of up to 4 amounts owed, and option to allow entry of any amount
• Option to charge a convenience fee for payment processing
• Customer can review payment before confirming it
• Option to notify you in real time when an IVR payment is confirmed
• Option to redirect customer back to biller if they have an issue

Yes, the Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment (EIPP) option allows your business customers to make a single payment to pay one or more outstanding invoices on their account with you.

Key features and options

• Single or multiple invoices can be loaded for payment
• Option to send up to 4 fields of custom invoice data
• Option to load invoice images
• Option to send discount details for prompt payment
• Invoices can be set for payment in full or to allow partial payments
• Option to send a due date for each invoice

The E-Bill & Collect platform offers a number of configurable notification options triggered by events (i.e. scheduled payment). These notification options include customizable email and SMS notifications that can be sent to customers, as well as real-time payment notifications that can be sent to a biller’s servers.

Yes, this optional feature allows you to embed payment functionality into your own systems (customer website, IVR, customer service application, etc.) and then send API calls to make payments through Key’s platform, as well as other functions.

There are two variations of the API call offered:

• Binder Payment API
  • This is a single web services based message that can be used to create a customer account, add a funding source and schedule a one-time payment. The payments are then processed and reported as being processed through the simple web channel.
  • This option does not return any data to your system other than the success or failure of the request. It is best used for one-time payments only.
• Gateway API
  • This is a series of API calls (Web Services or XML) that cover the key payment related functions offered by the platform, for example:
    • Create and retrieve customer accounts
    • Create, retrieve and updated funding sources
    • Create, retrieve and update payment transaction
  • Payments created this way can be sent through the following channels:
    • Web portal
    • IVR
    • Payment center – agent
    • Independent agent
  • The Gateway API can also be used when you have a network of agent offices that process payments that need to be reported separately from call center agent payments (i.e., insurance companies).

Yes, you can view your customer’s payment history and other information for your customer via the online tool, Payment Center. In addition, our Payment Center offers comprehensive online reporting, including dynamic chart generation and download features.

The online reporting accessed through Payment Center includes two types of reports:

• Intra-Day Report − Shows payments that are scheduled to be processed on the current date.
• Standard Reports − Show payments and other activities on prior dates.

Yes, this option allows your customer to enroll to receive alerts on a cell phone if the due date is approaching and they have no payment scheduled to pay the bill. They can then approve a payment with two clicks.

Key features and options

• Supports both voice call and SMS
• Customer must link and verify phone number before enrollment
• Customer can specify the date and time the alert is to be sent
• Customer pre-authorizes payment of the amount owed from the funding source
• Voice call alert allows customer to approve payment with single click
• SMS alert allows customer to choose to call IVR or make a web payment in two clicks

Yes, each partner can be setup to support one or more channels. Each channel can then be configured to support one or more payment types. The number of payment types that can be configured varies by channel.

Different business rules and processing fees can then be set up at the channel / payment / funding source level. Each payment type can be configured to support one or more funding sources. For example, the maximum payment amount for a one time bank account payment can be set to be different from a one-time debit card payment.

Yes. This feature allows us to build a hierarchy of entities (called partners) for you to mirror any corporate structure the partners have, to segregate customer data or for other reasons, usually settlement related.

For example, a hierarchy might be:

• ABC Insurance Company
• ABC Insurance Company – East
• ABC Insurance – NY
• ABC Insurance – NJ
• ABC Insurance – PA
• ABC Insurance Company – West
• ABC Insurance – CA
• ABC Insurance – OR
• ABC Insurance – WA

In this example, the main partner and East/West partners do not actually process payments or hold any customer data. They are just there for Customer Support access and rolled up reporting. Within the hierarchy, the setup for each partner can be an exact replica of the other partners (save for name and branding) or they can each be different. The fact that there are separate partners can be hidden from customers or made visible to them.