March 23, 2007 The power of consumer demand for convenience is driving innovation and automated kiosks become smarter by the day as they are the most cost-effective way to meet a customer in a convenient location – where they live, work and shop. The newly created ChoicePay kiosk is likely to proliferate quite quickly, as it aims to hook together hundreds of national and regional billers to create a network of self-service bill payment kiosks to be placed primarily in payment centers, convenience stores and supermarkets. The product of a partnership with Source Technologies which will integrate the ChoicePay multi-biller, bill payment functionality into the CONCOURSE line of self-service kiosks, to enable bill payment for cash paying consumers across America. Billers that support walk-up payments for cash-preferred customers can reduce the cost associated with processing attended payments, which can average US$1.501 or more per transaction.
“ChoicePay believes that unattended walk-up payments are an essential part of any comprehensive electronic bill payment strategy,” said Greg Adelson, ChoicePay President. “Kiosks offer a complimentary and/or alternative solution to existing attended walk-in options with the flexibility of placement where cash paying consumers live or work. Providing the consumer a multitude of biller payee options allows for greater convenience to pay monthly bills without the need to visit many different locations or pay with money orders.”
“Billers and retailers alike immediately see the value in increasing payment options for their clients,” said Bill Lynch, Vice President of Self Service, Source Technologies. “Both unbanked and established bank customers will appreciate the convenience of being able to use cash to pay bills in convenient locations."
ChoicePay is an electronic bill payment solutions provider and a subsidiary of Tulsa National Bancshares, Inc., a federally regulated bank holding company. ChoicePay began as an electronic lockbox for billers in 1996 with the mission of streamlining high-volume bill-payment processes. The company makes available a comprehensive suite of ACH, credit card, and cash payment options via the Internet, bilingual Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and call center, unattended walk-up kiosks, and attended walk-in retail locations. Kiosk payments are made at ChoicePay® proprietary bill payment kiosks or Vcom™, the nation's largest multi-biller kiosk network located in more than 1,000 select 7-Eleven® stores and available 24 hours a day. These kiosk solutions provide the underserved or unbanked consumers a convenient cash option to pay their bills at any time of the day. ChoicePay is VISA CISP compliant and meets the PCI information security requirements for service providers.
Founded in 1986, Charlotte, N.C.-based Source Technologies is a leading provider of integrated solutions for managing financial transactions and other secure business processes. In addition to the concourse™ family of self-service kiosks, Source Technologies offers secure disbursement software and magnetic ink character recognition (MICR) printers and consumables for secure document applications. Customers include nine of the top ten U.S. Banks, plus hundreds of Fortune 1000 and mid-sized companies. Source Technologies has created more than $400 million in economic value for its customers in the last ten years.