Go Paperless, Go Green! Switch to Electronic Billing

“How can the average US business save almost a tenth of a tree each year...? By switching to electronic billing!! Electronic billing, statements, and payments save the average business 6.6 pounds of paper, avoids producing 171 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions, and saves .079 of a tree annually,” reports the Pay It Green Alliance.

The hurdles to e-billing are dropping away as more businesses and consumers switch over and are able to see the time-saving benefits involved. The environmental arguments for e-billing are simple: less paper waste and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

There is so much we can do to save energy and reduce waste and everyone in the workplace can get involved. Companies like EBCS can help by enabling businesses to reduce the amount of paper used in the financial process. Huge quantities of resources are consumed by businesses each day to create and deliver paper financial documents such as invoices. This can easily be eliminated by replacing a slow, inaccurate manual process with a faster, more efficient electronic service.

Online bill paying offers convenience and also saves on cost. “Electronic bill presentment and payment via the Internet is one of the fastest-growing areas in business,” says Nick Rini, a columnist for Telephony, a trade magazine for communications service providers. “With more than 63 billion checks written annually where 80 percent is some sort of bill payment--either business-to-business or consumer-to business--substantial cash-management benefits and customer-service opportunities exist for those who use interactive billing and payment.”

One advantage of paperless billing, says Rini, is that companies can get paid faster than when they must print, fold, stuff, meter, sort and mail paper bills. Rini estimates that, in the U.S. alone, companies could save $200 million collectively each day if they switched to paperless billing. “The obvious cost savings come from decreasing, and eventually eliminating, printing and mailing expenses,” says Rini, adding that companies usually pay between 75 cents and $2.00 for each document generated and mailed. Meanwhile, the same companies end up paying another $1.25 for each paper check payment they must process, which could almost all be eliminated through online bill payment.

Large companies like PG&E have reported that using electronic billing to process payments has had an enormously positive effect in terms of helping the environment. Last year, PG&E sent 20.5 million eBills to their customers, and reported on saving approximately 27.7 tons of paper, 540,000 gallons of water, 47,000 pounds of solid waste, and 138,000 pounds of greenhouse gases.

Forward-thinking companies are leading the way with electronic billing by cutting costs, saving time, and helping to save the environment.

If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of converting to automated electronic billing, click on our logo below to check out the News tab on our web site, and take a few minutes to read NACHA's White Paper, about why small businesses have been slow to adopt this more cost-effective platform for collecting revenue:  

'A Labour of Love, Not Money' and the Profitability of Boarding Barns

It's no secret that equine boarding operations often struggle with maintaining a high-level of profitability. With all the costs that go into the daily care and maintenance of the animals, being profitable can be a challenge.

One of the major issues owners deal with is the emotionally draining and difficult task of contending patiently and tactfully with borders’ concerns and complaints. This doesn't include the problem individuals and/or horses that arise. Boarding barn owners have to do this all while making sure that boarders pay their bills on time so they can pay their overhead and bills. This can be stressful and overwhelming, and although keeping overhead costs down should be a priority, it is commonly put on the back-burner so that the "personal needs" of boarders can be dealt with first.

The good news is, there are ways to help manage these problems and help alleviate some stress for boarding barn owners, and EBCS is one of them!

While still giving you full-access to the information, EBCS can manage your billing and follow-up on late payments, so you can focus your time on the other pressing matters of the facility. We can take away the emotional stress of having to track down clients and ask for money among other things. We offer multiple payment options, flexible drafting dates for ease of budgeting, auto-debit transactions for the clients'-ease, and much more!

Visit our website and contact us to find out more and see how we can help you:  https://www.ebcs-solutions.com/node/7981094

To view the article entitled, 'A Labour of Love, Not Money, Running a Boarding Barn,' to find out more about the difficulties boarding barns face, click HERE. 

Reputation is Everything

Who ever heard of a third-party billing and collecting company with only one customer complaint in 26 years? Nobody, right? Well...wrong.  That only-one-complaint company is Maryland's own Electronic Billing & Customer Support.  Read on.

Billing Companies & Complaints: Two Peas in a Pod, Unfortunately
Third-party billing companies don't always have the best reputation...and that's an understatement!  They're sometimes slapped with labels as negative as "shady" and even "sleazy," if you go by the reviews posted on consumer complaint web sites such as ripoffreport.com, mythreecents.com, and pissedconsumer.com, among others.  And if you check the Better Business Bureau web site for ratings on various billing companies, your eyes might pop out of your head!  You will see astronomical numbers of complaints filed in just the past three years alone.  In fact, most of the companies whose BBB profiles we checked had complaints numbering in the hundreds.  One large and well-known billing company accumulated over 750 complaints in the last few years.  Another third-party biller, Vantiv, made the news this past summer when it overcharged Gold's Gym members in California by thousands of dollars -- they forgot to enter a decimal point!  Oops.  (http://consumerist.com/2013/07/26/gym-payment-processor-forgets-decimal-point-terrifies-members/). 

The Exception: Our Reputation Means A Lot to Us!
And then there is EBCS.  That's us.  We've been in business since 1986, and we are the company with the freakiest stats of them all: one complaint in 26 years. And guess what?  Like Vantiv, we do payment processing for lots of fitness facilities with lots of members -- meaning lots of opportunities for errors and complaints...but we haven't had such problems.

Now, if you don't believe me, you can go look it up for yourself:  http://www.bbb.org/greater-maryland/business-reviews/billing-service/electronic-billing-and-customer-support-in-timonium-md-20000913.  Oh.  And you can also go ahead and try to find us on all those angry consumer sites listed above.   We won't be there.

Our Staff is Our Strength
Needless to say, we are pretty proud of that, especially given the nature of our business.  We process a high volume of payments every month, and we deal with customers all day long, working to straighten out issues with returns, declines, and late payments.  Sensitive stuff...and the kind of topic that isn't likely to win anyone lots of fans.  However, our clients and their customers love our staff for their courtesy and professionalism.  Our Client Services Manager, Janice - and our entire customer service team - really know how to provide lots of "TLC" to anyone and everyone who calls.  The walls of Janice's office, as a matter of fact, are decorated with photos and personal notes from her adoring fan club of EBCS clients...no kidding (photo of Janice's office to be posted soon!)

We Help A Wide Variety of Businesses -- We Can Help Yours, Too
EBCS can help you reduce costs, stabilize your revenue stream, improve cash flow, and enhance your efficiency, all with an eye to detail and accuracy that is unmatched in the payment processing industry.  Our clients come from a wide variety of businesses -- health and fitness facilities, martial arts and MMA schools, dance studios, accounting agencies, veterinary clinics, equine businesses, exterminators, landscapers, day care centers...heck, we do franchise billing and COBRA billing too!! Our clients enjoy the benefits of outsourcing their recurring billing and payment plan processing to a trusted service provider, without having to sacrifice the peace of mind that goes with knowing their transactions are always safe and secure.  You too, can adopt their motto: "Do your best and outsource the rest!"

So...if you are looking to outsource your recurring billing, payment plan processing, or database management tasks, be sure to consider Electronic Billing & Customer Support.  When it comes to handling your money and your customers, you deserve a company with a top-notch rating (A+ from the BBB.)  We consider ourselves an extension of your business, so we settle for nothing less than representing you with the utmost care and concern for your reputation.

Join Our Fan Club!
Visit our web site at www.ebcs-solutions.com, or give us a call at 410-252-9206 (locally in Maryland) or 1-800-766-1918.  We would love to create a custom billing solution for your business.  And of course,  Janice is waiting to welcome you into her fan club!