Case Study: Qwest Connects With Customers Through eBills And ePayments

Through an extensive billing and payment study of its residential customers, telecommunications provider Qwest Communications found that those customers who received their bills online and paid electronically had up to 25% less attrition and were up to 20% more profitable than customers who viewed or paid offline. Some of Qwest's most profitable relationships are with customers who view and pay their Qwest bill at an online banking site, not directly with Qwest. This counterintuitive result calls into question the practice of offering credit card and other high-cost bill payments for free as a means of encouraging online bill payment and eBill adoption.