Feedback Wanted: Replace All Your Bills with One Regular Payment - Billsmoov

Hi All

My name is Justin Roberts and I am currently launching a new start up called billsmoov (https://billsmoov.com.au). The basic premise of the service is that we want to pay all our users bills for them - that is energy, mobile, internet, insurance, rates, car rego etc - and replace all of those bills with one smoothed regular payment. For example if you had $12k worth of bills a year, instead of having to pay all your bills individually and deal with cash flow variability, you would pay us one $1k payment every month. Bill shock/variability is an issue for a lot of aussies and we are trying to do something to solve it. We also want to make recommendations about where you might be able to save money either pay changing usage or providers.

We are currently in beta mode and testing the value proposition with new users. I would love to get any feedback from potential users about whether they see value in the solution and/or if there is anything else you think we might be missing. I appreciate any and all feedback.

Justin

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Comments

  • +88

    Worst idea ever. From privacy angle to lack of control. This will never take off.

    Aggregating bill info to harvest data and aim for affiliate revenue has been tried before several times.

    Who signed off your business case proposal? Replace them.

    • +7

      Thanks for your feedback. We are working on the privacy component and mitigation controls but I do agree that overcoming privacy concerns is a major issue. However, if the desirability is there I believe it is solvable

      • +36

        Privacy is a HUGE obstacle. It should be something resolved already, not a consideration now. People would be mad to provide you exposure to all their life bills. I certainly wouldn’t.

        But even if they did, where’s the guarantee you won’t disappear in 3 months time and we’re left with a stack of unpaid bills and issues with service providers?

        Why would we trust this scheme?

        • +6

          The main reason we wouldn't disappear, is we are prepaying your bills for you. So when you sign up you don't outlay anything. We pay your first months bills and on your chosen date you would make the estimated repayment amount. Which would likely be less than that months bills. I would hope that in and of itself would create trust. We are also working with the service providers to help them reduce their transaction costs and how we monetise the solution. We are working on those agreements at the moment and their endorsement would add further trust.

          • +4

            @billsmoov: Do you do credit check first?
            How much is your fee?

            • @punter1: Thanks for the questions. We will run a credit check like the BNPL providers do. There is no fee for the service

              • +11

                @billsmoov: Okay, so how are you planning on making money? Selling data? Ads? Both?

              • @billsmoov: Not all BNPL run credit checks. That is a disadvantage right there.

        • +22

          I think you massively overestimate how naive people are and how much they care about privacy.

          Heaps of people search for everything using Google, some go further to use Google Photos, Drive, YouTube, Hangouts, Docs, Gmail, Maps – then there’s people who buy Android phones and others who buy Google home speakers. Beyond that, there’s Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, etc.

          The sad reality is that most people don’t give a shit. Whether or not the business idea is a good or not, I won’t comment on, I will say this though: the liability of securing all this user data would be a huge burden. Hiring people who will actually follow best practices won’t be cheap and winging it is a bad move.

          • +2

            @no not me: I feel you on this. I've got bank accounts hooked into aggregators to see total incoming/outgoing and give reports/trends, and they see all my bills, pays, and everything else. Thats a lot more than these guys are asking for, and the advantage of a monthly payment for all bills (and ability to add services to it/remove them as needed) could make it worthwhile (especially if they can get supplier side discounts for volume trade).

    • +49

      Why so negative?

      BNPL wasn't a thing before it became popular.

      Bill consolidation into monthly payments could work with the right marketing.

      • +5

        Thanks

      • +10

        BNPL wasn't a thing before it became popular.

        Used to be called a credit card and the user pays the interest. No it means the interest is already capitalised into the transaction.

        Bill consolidation into monthly payments could work with the right marketing.

        Could work for people who are just bad with paying their bills. Some people are bad at paying bills because they are bad with their finances.

        For most people it is called setting up a monthly Bpay part of their bill.

        • +8

          Most people aren't financially savvy.

          They spend 1/3 (or more) of their time working without a plan on how to keep what they make.

      • +1

        Hear Hear!

        Although I wouldn't take it due to Credit Checking (and no OP, Afterpay does not do credit check so to say BNPL providers do which imply ALL of them is false) and to me that is the deal breaker.

    • +5

      Not only this, but what happens to your 10 months of repayments, when they become insolvent. You go to the back of a long list of creditors, see 5c for every dollar you paid, if you're lucky, and still have to pay all your bills.

      It's not hard to just pay your bills on time.

      • +5

        It's not hard to just pay your bills on time.

        It's difficult for people that live paycheck to paycheck.

        Millions of Australians are forced to live pay to pay and would be broke in a month if they lost work
        The number of people living in precarious situations that could send them broke in just weeks is huge, and the problem is only getting worse.

        Shannon Molloy 3 min read July 9, 2019 - 11:35AM
        https://www.news.com.au/finance/millions-of-australians-are-…

        Survey finds 60 per cent of Australians worry about debt
        December 11, 2021 - 22:11PM

        According to the annual WeMoney Financial Wellness Survey, 60 per cent of Australians worry about debt, and 30 per cent live paycheck to paycheck.
        https://www.skynews.com.au/business/finance/survey-finds-60-…

        Debt consolidation services already exist. This (bill) service is for smaller bills and could make it easier for them to budget.

        • +22

          Seems like we need to invest in financial literacy, rather than this system.

          • +16

            @Lord Fart Bucket: The elites in charge don't want that. They want people financially illiterate, in debt, working and compliant.

            • @rektrading: I would laugh if it isn't so sad…
              Mike Baird to NAB, Anna Bligh as CEO of the Australian Banking Association…

            • +1

              @rektrading: I love it when someone says "the elites". Makes me feel special.

            • +1

              @rektrading: "The elites in charge" provide a huge volume of financial education completely free of charge. They do a whole lot of evil things, but this is not one of them.

              There's only so much you can do to force someone to learn something. A huge proportion of the population are wilfully ignorant - they don't understand finances, know how they could learn it but actively choose not to.

        • +1

          They would get the same result just putting aside a set amount of money for bills each week. What op is suggesting doesn't lower costs.

          • +6

            @brendanm: A lot of people lack the discipline to not spend that money.

            • +3

              @JIMB0: Perhaps they should work on that then? Something like this would simply be a band-aid.

              • -7

                @brendanm: I keep telling people to buy stonks directly instead of buying ETF.

                Do they listen? No, because most people are not financially literate and want someone else to manage their finances.

        • +1

          Often the people complaining they can't pay their bills are also doing it mid-drag of one of a dozen cigs they've just been smoking as they're stressed out about not being able to pay their bills …

    • +16

      People choose convenience over privacy every single time. So I don't think that's the issue. I wouldn't bother using it, but I can see how some people might find it attractive. If there were signup bonuses etc. I'm sure plenty of people here would be interested.

      • People choose convenience over privacy every single time

        I disagree.

        If you said people choose $5 coupon over privacy, well, that's different.

        • +2

          I mentioned that people here would be interested if there was some kind of bonus. People in general though are quite lazy. Sure, there's a few hardcore privacy advocates that care, but most don't. If they did, people wouldn't use their real names on social media, risking all kinds of real world negative consequences for the slightest infraction.

      • People choose convenience over privacy every single time

        No

        • +2

          Yes.

          And I say this as someone who wouldn't use this service - partly for privacy, but that's probably one of my lesser concerns in this case.

          I pretty heavily use the Google ecosystem, and I could almost guarantee you there is little privacy there… but oh my there is soo much convenience.

      • You will get so many OzBargainers with a sign up bonus!

    • +17

      Worst idea ever.

      Are you sure?

      • +1

        Hahaha ahhh. Thanks for that

    • +6

      The adverage person doensn't care about their privacy.

    • Bit harsh maybe though acknowledge your points. I'd stop short of calling it 'worst idea ever' because if somehow those challenges could be overcome it's actually a pretty good idea.

    • You’re allowed to have an opinion but why are you being such a (profanity) about it?

    • lol, savage

    • I think you are mixing up “investor concerns” with “consumer concerns” lmao. Being able to harvest such rich, rich data only makes the service even MORE valuable as a business, no?

  • +3

    Where do you make your money?

    • +2

      By working with the service providers to reduce their transaction costs and potential bad debts. It is a free service for consumers

      • +13

        Problem you will have is perception …
        Most already know the mantra "When a service is free, YOU (the person signed up for the "free" service) are the product"
        If you really want to get around that, I suggest charging a nominal fee (ie $5 - $20 per month, etc), otherwise many people that might use the service won't because they know their data is the actual product (whether it actually is or not)!
        7

        • +2

          Interesting point this but does it hold true for average Aussie battler Joe bloggs who just needs to budget? Unsure but I'm not the target market (not are plenty on here I suspect).

          • @drprox: Put a price on it but have enough "promotional periods" that Joe Bloggs can get in for free…?

        • +1

          I think the types of people that would use a service like this probably don't even know that particular phrase or if they did, they probably won't care.

        • you say that, but why is BNPL such a big thing. its a 'free' service, as long as you pay ontime. Like other BNPL, i'm sure this mob would have charges to penalise someone who doesn't pay on time.

    • I'm guessing a commission.

      Your annual bills - $12,000
      What you pay billsmoov - $12,900

      Edit: looks like I'm wrong again

      • +5

        I think you're kinda right… the commission will be built into your payments (you still pay same amount, but they negotiate with providers for a discount and rake off any cream between what they will pay as a bulk payer and what you pay as a retail payer.) and I am guessing they are going to be banking on churning deals (ie: you are going to get the shit spammed out of you for offers to "switch and save" and have your data shopped around and sold to cover their costs.)

        Either way, this comment;

        It is a free service for consumers

        is disingenuous, as it is not free, because they will be banking on selling your data for a fee, spamming you for a fee, and raking the cream off of people's accounts. The cost to the end user is, selling your personal data to the highest bidder, having you inbox spammed with "switch and save" spam, lazy tax for not doing the leg work and ringing your providers for a better deal.

        • +1

          the commission will be built into your payments (you still pay same amount

          I call BS. It'll be a (hidden) surcharge if using this system.

          • +1

            @Lord Fart Bucket: It will more likely be charged back to the biller and in turn the biller will just add it onto bills. So, at the end of the day, it wouldn't really be "free" as the end user always pays. Just because they cant see the fees, doesn't make it "free".

          • @Lord Fart Bucket: many providers offer "pay on time discounts" to consumers.

            would assume billsmoov will happily take those instead of them ending up in consumer wallets.

    • they can charge company a small % of the bill for guaranteed payment, most business probably take it up as it assure their bill get paid on time
      similar idea to Greensill ideas that collapsed last year but this aim at every day average joe

      https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-09-08/why-did-g…

      I think the business idea could work and may benefit people who are bad with bills but access capital to prepaid business can be an issue for the business and with Greensill collapsed it could be tough

      • Sounds a bit like debt factoring?

        • Pretty much that the only way I can see them making money without costing Comsumer
          business willing to take 98c in a dollar to get a 98c now rather than wait for Comsumer to pay that may or may not happened
          it probably work out the same for the business factoring in cash flow and opportunity cost.

          but personally I would not use such service as the cost of data leak is far far too great for my liking

  • +21

    For me personally - I'd only use a service like this if there was a financial incentive to do so.
    For example Optus's Subhub gives you a % discount for using them as a 3rd party bill consolidation service.
    Otherwise its just not worth the hassle / risk for me, everything is already setup on direct debit / automated payments.
    I know my utilities provider does "Evenpay" which effectively does the same thing, and is a large source of billshock.

    If i was to use it, I'd have questions around the cashflow aspect - as in are you being a creditor to me? Or Me to you?
    That is: Can my account go into red if i have a large bill one month? Or do I need to always have a "billsmoov" balance > $0.
    If i need to always have money in my account, that would be a massive turn off for me.

    In general with most ideas - You should be able to answer a couple questions to yourself honestly:
    - Who is your target customer? Describe them in great detail. (are they people with not a lot of cash lying around? Does that make them not great candidates to loan to?)
    - Why do they love using your service? (Is it time and hassle your saving? Is it money? Is it the cashflow aspect?)
    - Why would they not use your service? (Security, Credit rating, Privacy, or is there already people filling this market?)
    - Why is this better than the alternatives? (E.g. why is this better than creditcards / afterpay? Why is it better than someone not using it)
    - How would you define your service being successful? (Are you trying to aquire users? Aquire valuation? Be cash flow positive? Rule the world?)

    My 0.02c:
    I think its not a bad idea, information is king in lots of ways - I suspect you will have trouble acquiring a critical mass of users to do anything useful, and will require a large amount of either developer effort to interface with each and every "bill provider", or large amount of humans to do it. Will be tough to turn it into a profitable business.

    • +3

      Better questions there than they ask on shark tank.

  • +13

    Why would I not just calculate my yearly bills, add a 5-10% buffer, divide the amount by 52, and put that amount into an account weekly? Or simply just pay them?

    • +4

      This. Plus you can earn interest too if the money's in a savings account.

    • +6

      Easy to simply just pay them. I use Direct Debit wherever possible and pay other bills the day I get them. No value in paying close to due by date when interest rates are so decidedly uninteresting.

      • I sometimes hesitate in paying bills straight away just in case there is a Coles Prepaid Mastercard deal just around the corner.

        • any deals on coles prepaid mastercard on the horizon?

    • +16

      You over-estimate people's ability to budget and think ahead this far.

      • +1

        Anyone not able to do that also wouldn't have the inclination to outsource it.

    • +4

      This is because you have self control. Many people out there who buy hobby stuff, say that they love putting money every so often to pay off a preorder. My question to them, why give money away to the business before it's due, when you could put it to your own bank account and earn (admittedly negligible) interest. At the very least, you won't have the risk of the business running away with your money.

      • +4

        You need self control to give the money to this billsmoov business as well. Instead of sending the money to them why would you not just deposit the same money to an account that you tell all your bills to direct debit out of? Where is the benefit? I see only negatives (they could run away with your money, and they have access to your personal data).

        • +3

          I agree with you completely. Just saying that there are people out there that seem to think that if they leave money in their account, they don't have the self-control to not spend it. Thus they prefer to pay businesses before they need to, even when there're extra risks. For me, this scheme has zero benefits whatsoever, and too many risks that I cannot recover from, as once your data leaks and identity thief occurs, good luck.

          • +2

            @chcse:

            your data leaks

            Yeah, even big companies who have the budget to hire IT security professionals still get hacked. I doubt this one, who can't even afford a proof reader for their website, would be securing this high value data correctly.

    • You would but plenty don't!

    • +1

      Because half of all people have a double digit IQ.

    • what happens when a large percentage of your bills come in the first 4 -8 weeks of the year?

      • You pay them?

  • +54

    I don't think OzBargain folk are your target audience.

    • This

    • +4

      This OP, ignore the haters here. Most people here just want something for nothing. You’ve got a good idea and if it is growing you don’t need feedback from OzB. A good startup is a combination of idea, team, product, execution and most importantly, luck. Just focus on things you can control and you will be fine.

  • +7

    I have questions:
    - how would a customer know their bills are, in fact, being paid?
    - what happens if the actual billed amount goes over the monthly/annual payment?
    - what happens if it's less than payment?
    - would the customer have to update you every time there is a change to their bills? Or do you propose the customer hands over billing control to you?
    - what happens if a customer can't make the regular payment for a month (or more)?

    To me this is the most exciting proposition, having a customised improvement plan for current bills, with actual dollar figures:

    We also want to make recommendations about where you might be able to save money either pay changing usage or providers.

  • Easybillpay blocked my account without notice. I think it turned to a paid service now.

    The biggest headache may be card fees and some fraudulent activities.

    Sniip is a similar free service.

    • Thanks for the feedback.Yes agree there are similar service but none yet offer a smoothing service and while they do provide automated payments it doesn't actually help the users cash flows

      • +1

        Easybillpay did when I used it, but I dont know now. Maybe it still have some Youtube videos available for your reference.

        Your idea sounds like BNPL scheme in the bill payment system.

      • do you guys support credit card bills too or just utility?

  • +1

    Could see this working in share houses.

    Personally, regular fixed cost items like internet, mobile, insurance I have set up to autopay. So it would only be energy bills and water bills that would be an issue.

    How do you deal with fluctuating energy and water costs?

    I would also look into potential for cash back with retailers

    • +1

      I can see it working for share houses too. Particularly if you can configure the withdrawal from multiple accounts, such as 25% from Peter's a/c, 25% from Andy's, and 50% from John's.

  • +9

    Ok, and what happens when your system fails or something happens and my rego or CTP insurance doesn't get paid on time and I cop an unregistered/uninsured traffic fines, or worse, you miss my insurance payment and I have an accident and I'm not covered because of your system errors?

    • +13

      isn't that what the ozbargain forums are for?

      • OzGenericHelpline

    • +4

      Just post with a @billsmoov before it becomes DisableUser987654

    • +3

      Something sort of similar happened to me - my real estate was supposed to be paying all the house's bills. But they stopped paying the rates for some reason (they say we told them not to, but there's no written evidence of that and I can't see why we would have said that as we had no idea they weren't going to pay it). Got a phone call saying we were getting an exorbitant late fee. Real estate denies any responsibility. Luckily we managed to sweet talk the revenue office into withdrawing the fine, and confirm with the real estate to pay that bill for us from now on. If they hadn't withdrawn the fine, who would have been responsible? I would argue the real estate as we had an agreement for them to pay all bills and they didn't, and have no written evidence of us asking them not to. But then, the bills are ours,should we be checking on each individual one to make sure they're paid as they're our responsibility? (If so, what is even the point of getting the real estate to pay them, or having a company like billsmoov…) The margin for this billsmoov business is surely razor thin. Things like this due to human mistakes would surely wipe out any profit and then some.

    • +1

      This. What controls do you have in place to ensure that payments are made on time so that your consumers are covered?

  • The best way to pay your bills is to not pay them at all

    So… i don't have to pay you? Philanthropy?

  • For a moment I thought you were offering discounts on bills by paying with giftcards

    Anyways, no one can promise their data can be 100% secured. It is always a matter of time before they are leaked.

    You can keep promises to not resell customer data for as long as you are in control of the business. Once you resell your business, that promise is off the table.

    Lastly, what are the fees and charges from your business? BNPL and CC profits from a % of customers who can't make the repayment. That will inform me what your business value is

  • +9

    In theory the idea sounds quite logical and while I currently have no use for a service such this I wish you all the best with your endeavour.

    I have had a look at your website. One thing that I would advise is to proof read the website as I have found several spelling/grammatical errors it.

  • +6

    I still dont understand the business model. Billsmoov pays the first month on our behalf and because some bills comes in every quarter, it tries to forecast the cash flow for me by making me pay X amount. But what if the my payment to Billsmoov comes in lower than the actual bill, that means I have underpaid which makes me liable for interest for some bills like council payment.

    It is so much risk because if Billsmoov goes under or did not pay the full amount on my behalf, I am the one who COPs the ramifications like bad credit score, accrued interest, etc.

    Not to mention bills is actually one of the more sensitive and confidential pieces of documents as it can be used as official supporting document for various purposes. It is gonna have a huge privacy headwind.

  • +1

    I’m going through divorce, can your service smoov my lawyers high yield investment?

    • +4

      I only just realised from your comment that the name is "bill smoov" and not "bills moov".

  • +5

    I'll stick with the 'old fashioned' method.

    A bank account with direct debits for regular bills and BPay for irregular bills or bills that the amounts change on occasions.

    If my bank misses a payment they are responsible, not an unknown third party who may or may not be secure or be able to survive if something goes wrong.

    My personal details and privacy are protected with my bank, and I'm confident that my bank will still be around for as long as I need them and they have more than enough money behind them to cover possible contingencies.

    My bank's website also doesn't contain bad grammar and is open with their privacy policy, amateurish.

  • +1

    Not sure I like the idea of not keeping an eye on the actual money coming from my cards/accounts every month. Visibility is key to gaining trust.

    Just today I saw that Simply Energy took the non-discounted amount out of my card because their systems were a day late in processing. I called and got a credit to fix it.

    • +1

      Yes, I completely understand this point of view. This service is not for everyone and is targeted at those that are less organised and cashflow constrained or conscious.

      Thanks for the feedback

  • +1

    So you have a critical system failure and miss my bill payments and in turn I get negative impact on my credit rating?
    I consider my credit rating is a valuable commodity and no way am I going to trust an unknown party to screw it up for me.

    • Yes understand the risk here and appreciate the feedback. We are looking to make agreements with the service providers to alleviate this risk and will be paying 48 hours in advance for certainty of payment. Further we will be providing customers receipts of payment so they know the bill is paid, however appreciate there is a big trust issue to overcome.

      Thanks again for making the time to comment

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