Plus: Rudy to the rescue . . . again?
Some people would rather hand their baby to Michael Jackson than fork over a credit card number to make an online purchase. The alternative? . . . Charging stuff to your local phone bill.
Some people would rather hand their baby to Michael Jackson than fork over a credit card number to make an online purchase.
Call them prudent or paranoid – about the credit cards, not Jacko – but they are a significant slice of the Internet user community. They also represent a potentially golden business opportunity for PaymentOne – known until recently as eBillit – which provides the customers of ISPs, content providers and purveyors of digital goods with a less frightening payment method.
That alternative? . . . Charging stuff to your local phone bill.
“Only 65% of U.S. households have a credit card and only 15% say they are truly comfortable using it online,” says Don Teague, vice president of marketing at PaymentOne. “There is still a 25% to 50% abandonment rate in most Internet-related sites during registration, specifically as the consumers get closer and closer to the cash register.”
PaymentOne says that 3 million consumers pay for Internet access through the company’s service, which is used by about 50 clients, including AOL, United Online, BlueLight.com and YP.net. The company has 1,400 billing and collection relationships that make its service available to 92% of households and businesses.
“In today’s world, if our phone-bill option is plugged in as an additional payment option, we will guarantee a 25% lift in net new subscribers,” Teague boasts.
The phone bill business makes a lot of sense, and not just for the faint of heart. The convenience alone will attract many to the option. Most everyone trusts the phone company, and most everyone values their dial tone enough not to ignore the tab.
Might we see phone bill payment options move beyond services into hard goods?
“Well, probably not refrigerators tomorrow, but we definitely are moving into digital goods and services,” Teague says. “Music downloads, online games, periodicals. I could see the day when we will do your subscription to the Internet version of The Wall Street Journal and you’d get your paper version also.”
Couldn’t Amazon.com ship me a book and put the charge on my phone bill?
“Not today, but it could happen in the future,” Teague says. “The barrier would be the phone companies’ desire to participate in fulfillment, because in the digital world we know when things were delivered.”
If things get any worse in telecom, that desire won’t be long in coming.
Rudy to the rescue . . . again?
The “Rudy Giuliani Is Our Savior” revival-show bandwagon continues to gather momentum throughout the high-tech industry . . . for reasons that remain remarkably foggy.
Latest to jump aboard is David Matlin, a leading WorldCom investor/vulture capitalist, who reportedly wants to sweep up at least a third of the bankrupt company’s bonds to retain the right to appoint post-bankruptcy board members. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, this would precede the appointment of the former New York mayor as chairman.
“What’s not to like? He’s ‘Man of the Year,'” says a necessarily cautious Michael Capellas, who was just named WorldCom CEO. “We are going to see if there is a role for Giuliani. We are moving forward and assembling a world-class board.”
What’s not to like?
Let’s start with the fact that you’ve got to “see” if there is a role for a politician turned motivational speaker who has no relevant business experience. That seems like an odd starting point for a company that just tabbed an executive, Capellas, who also has no experience in the telecommunications industry.
Of course, Giuliani is immensely popular and could help polish up the WorldCom name. Perhaps that’s enough.
Comments? The address is buzz@nww.com.
