IFX for Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment

For general information about the IFX Standard please go to www.ifxforum.org/standards.

In 1997-98, the InteroperaBILL initiative, fostered by the Banking Industry Technology Secretariat (BITS) and supported by the National Automated Clearing House Association’s (NACHA) Council for Electronic Billing and Payment, defined a widely accepted set of business practices that define how EBPP transactions should be conducted. The effort that went into creating the IFX for EBPP message set was based on the Service Provider model for EBPP defined at that time.

The Service Provider model is based on the concept that the process of delivering a bill from an originator ("the Biller") to the receiver (the "Customer") and processing the payment of the bill through the Internet requires the participation of at least two entities, but most likely will involve more than that, since customers may access bill presentment and payment information through a variety of channels. IFX for EBPP focuses on making required information available to everyone involved in delivering the service.

Addressing the Needs of Bill Presentment and Payment with IFX

The complex business models found in Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment (EBPP) environments create two types of data exchange requirements: the need to capture all of the transactional data itself and the necessity for reliable coordination of the communication of that data. By definition, EBPP applications are dependent on the networks that they connect to. In order to transfer billing data from the originator through one or more service providers to the recipient, significant interactions must take place. EBPP can only work if all of the entities involved in delivering the services are able to communicate together in a reliable, flexible, economical fashion.

The participating entities can be separate financial institutions, corporations/billers, or service providers of various varieties – all of which may or may not have pre-established relationships with each other, sit within the same corporate walls, or even be located within the same country. The challenge to creating a messaging standard for EBPP is in assuring the successful interoperation of all parties involved in delivering the required services.

IFX Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment Features and Benefits

IFX for EBPP was built to accomplish these goals:

Capture all of the data that is necessary to deliver the service while allowing room for customizations based on specific business needs
Reliably deliver data across all of the entities involved in an EBPP environment
Define consistent semantic intent of tagged data elements and specific value domains for enumerated options

The table below summarizes the capabilities, features and benefits of the IFX EBPP functionality.

Benefit	Feature
Enrollment/Service Activation	Enrollment of customers with service providers Assignment of appropriate usernames and passwords Communication of disclosures for all involved parties Activation of bill delivery service between customers and multiple billers Registration and verification of customer payment methods
Bill Summary Delivery	Delivery of bill summary data that includes biller information, account numbers, total amount due, due date and billing period information Inclusion of a bill detail link to be passed through the service provider to the recipient. This bill detail allows for click-through functionality that allows the customer to view line item detail data that is stored elsewhere and that is not communicated within IFX. Additionally, click-through functionality allows for single authentication of the user Communication back to the biller that a bill summary was viewed by the customer
Payment Processing	Customer-facing payment functionality through service providers: Ability to schedule payments for bills received Ability to schedule recurring payments (such as for a mortgage, car loan, etc.) Payment Status notification Customer-initiated payments (pay anyone support) Biller-facing payment functionality: Support for multiple payment methods Support for multiple payment service providers Support for round trip payment functionality including communication of remittance information Support for multiple payment methods: Check, electronic, ACH, FedNet, SWIFT, CHIPS, CHAPS, BookEntry, Draft Support for multiple payment options: Pay Anyone Roundtrip Payment Remittance Scheduled Payments (Recurring and Single) Ability to determine the status of any payment and report to all the interested parties
Customer Care	Ability to provide status of bill presentment and payment to customers Updates to account information Communication of new disclosures Facilitation of enrollment/de-enrollment in EBPP service Support for changes in account information such as account number and customer information Ability for customer service reps to enroll and de-enroll in services on behalf of the customers
Ability to enable EBPP service to multiple billers.	Customer Authentication Service Enrollment with Multiple Billers Customer Disclosures Processing

Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment Working Group

IFX for EBPP has been a cooperative industry effort among major financial institutions, service providers, and information technology partners to develop a single, open financial services industry standard for EBPP. Over the past decade participants have included Microsoft, Intuit, Checkfree, IBM, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Citi and many others.

What Is the EBPP Work Group Working On?

The Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment work group no longer meets on a regular basis. The IFX Architecture Committee continues to ensure that new capabilities introduced by other work groups are compatible with, or enhance, the standard's support of EBPP functionality.