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

AssociatedLbillsmoov @ billsmoov on 04/01/2022 - 11:44
Last edited 04/01/2022 - 12:34 by 1 other user

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

Financial

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Comments

  • WreckTangle on 04/01/2022 - 17:52
    +1

    Some valid questions have been asked without suitable answers (like what if the actual bill isn’t what you predict). I read all of the comments above and don’t fully understand it - if something can’t be explained simply & convincingly then i’m out.

    Also there are typos on your webpage.

    • Associatedbillsmoov @ billsmoov on 05/01/2022 - 19:54

      Yes there have been some great comments/feedback. This has given me a lot to think about in terms of what the concerns are.

      Apologies to everyone for the typos and grammar errors. It is getting proofread as we speak. We had just pulled it together and were perhaps over keen to get feedback on the concept as soon as possible.

  • SlavOz on 04/01/2022 - 21:04

    Decent idea. Could definitely work, but your marketing and website copy are not exactly screaming trustworthy and reliable.

    I'm sure your friend have you a good price on the website but go pay a professional to do it, and look into hiring a digital marketing service to handle the Google ads, SEO, and copywriting. Let me know if you need some good names on Australia for this as I have worked with many clients who specialise with small start-ups.

    Good luck.

  • afah0447 on 05/01/2022 - 08:26
    +3

    So basically you're gonna be a debt consolidation company with a fancy app for your phone. Nothing new here.

    At the end of the you will taking advantage of the poor who have bad money management skills.

    • FareEvader on 05/01/2022 - 22:08

      I disagree that they're taking advantage of the poor… they aren't (directly) making money from the consumer

      • rinco on 07/01/2022 - 22:55

        Yeah, they are willing to take advantage of anyone to indirectly turn a profit. Although their target market right now is just the poors.

  • Grunntt on 05/01/2022 - 08:28
    +4

    And, you do not, need to put, commas at seemingly, random spots in sentences.

    Your site seems to be 'trying to' look professional rather than 'being' professional.

  • 2esc on 05/01/2022 - 11:53

    I personally rather pay my bill individually but I do see the benefits for people and saying people should just manage their money better doesn't take in other individual factors.

    What are the fees involved? Is this system protected by any government legislation or backed by a major bank?

    Fortnightly or weekly payments need to be available not just monthly payments as most people are paid fortnightly. Example my pay goes in wednesday my house loan comes out friday.

    Why is it the worst idea ever from a money making angle?

    Different sort of idea but look at the crazy success of companies like Afterpay.

    There is already other systems in place to spread out your bills. Setting up your bank account to do automatic payments and some utilities have different payment schedules.

    I personally would not like the idea of relying on one company to look after all my bills too many things to go wrong if they stuff up on bill paying you could quickly end up with a bad credit rating.

    • avoidfullprice on 05/01/2022 - 17:55

      What are the fees involved?

      That's my q as well (I've commented above). Their website has the following quote

      Best of all there are no fees or interest!

      But no accessible PDS without me providing my personal contact details. I am really not sure what risk I'm taking with this free lunch.

  • OzHunterNSW on 05/01/2022 - 15:33

    Well JR, there are good customers, and then there are the not so good customers.

    What are you going to do when people don't pay you to pay them?

    Are you now a "debt recovery service"?

    • Neoika on 05/01/2022 - 16:22

      Obviously, the service will only pay out on behalf of a customer after successfully taking the money. The sting part may be card fees and chargeback in fraudulent activities.

      In the end, a service may turn to a paid subscription type of service like easybillpay to only deal with the people who are not that savvy and doing bank transfer to them (no card fee involved).

      • spaceflight on 09/01/2022 - 08:48
        +1

        Obviously, the service will only pay out on behalf of a customer after successfully taking the money

        Obviously, you haven't read the thread because they have already said that they will pay the bill in advance.

        • Neoika on 09/01/2022 - 08:51

          OK. Not even the 1st installment needed?

  • Japius on 05/01/2022 - 18:54

    A service like deferit, albeit for a small monthly fee, seems to give the user more control and help them manage the payments. This seems more like another “mybudget” type service

    • Associatedbillsmoov @ billsmoov on 05/01/2022 - 19:55

      Thanks for the feedback. We are trying to be different to deferit and hopefully provide longer term value rather than a sugar hit that BNPL usually provides but do appreciate the point about control. Something I will feedback to the team

  • vorsprung on 05/01/2022 - 19:07
    +1

    I like it. It's not for me (neither is the wildly popular BNPL), but I can see the appeal.

    • Associatedbillsmoov @ billsmoov on 05/01/2022 - 19:56

      Thanks for the feedback. It is not for everybody, I understand that but I am glad the concept resonates with you

  • redslert on 05/01/2022 - 19:36

    This is a pointless service.
    There's already direct debit…

    • Associatedbillsmoov @ billsmoov on 05/01/2022 - 19:57
      +1

      Thanks for the feedback. We are trying to be different to direct debit, that is help with cash flow and also provide a platform for users to view and check their bills.

  • SuperMid on 05/01/2022 - 19:44
    +1

    I can see the appeal of a service like this, even though i direct debit almost everything so i dont have to remember to actually pay, it can be overwhelming trying to remember each and every bill to pay, especially the non frequent ones like rego, which if you miss, can have massive fines.

    Op: you will always hear negativity from the ozmorons on this site, like any business that started off small and then boomed, they were all ridiculed in the early days.

    I guess for someone like me, the main consideration would be how much extra it would actually cost me to use this service, or do you charge the companies themselves to offer your service.

    • Associatedbillsmoov @ billsmoov on 05/01/2022 - 20:00

      Thanks DJ. Appreciate the feedback. I understand some people are negative but some also make good points. To be honest I welcome all feedback, it helps understand what we need to overcome in order to be succesful.

      I know people don't believe it but our intention is to offer the service free, without selling customer data. By consolidating payments we believe we can save the service provider payment fees and share in those economics with them. That is the intention.

      • SuperMid on 05/01/2022 - 21:48
        +1

        Sounds good. I guess you just need to make a solid business plan and sell it to one reputable brand name business. Once you’ve got your foot in the door, the rest should flow easily.

        My advice: be open and honest: don’t try and be sneaky. The internet will tear you to shreds if you try to hide any potential dodgyness in technical terms and marketing speak :)

      • cookie2 on 05/01/2022 - 22:26

        I wouldn't use it, atleast I'm not your target market…BUT i think it's a great idea and ppl will do it. Especially the time poor and people that like the appeal to subscription like payments being regularly deducted. Goodluck and good on you!

  • MisterX on 05/01/2022 - 20:14

    I like the idea. Best of luck!

  • gromit on 05/01/2022 - 20:21
    +2

    I don't see anything on your site about having cyber security expertise, privacy policies etc etc, all pretty big red flags when dealing with such a huge amount of financial and privacy data. Just a one liner that you take privacy seriously. If you took it seriously you would have this all front and centre not a email and mobile phone that people can ask about it.

  • [Deactivated] on 05/01/2022 - 20:24
    +5

    Regardless if this service might help people , whether for a small fee or not , it is a very BAD IDEA

    Everything gets compromised at some point in time and all data would eventually be uploaded to the internet/darkweb , it is not a matter of IF but WHEN , if both Facebook and Google can be breached…so can any other company

    Can you imagine…the absolute HAVOC of what can happen if this service was to actually exist …identity theft and fraud …on a mass scale , not to mention the amount of Metadata anyone can have of you , quite literally a snapshot of your life at a glance.

    Just think about it for a second , what is the worst case scenario , what gets compromised exactly ..off the top of my head.

    •Physical Address
    •Email Address
    •Date of birth
    •Phone Number
    •Drivers License (Some "services" actually require your driver's license for "verification purposes")
    •Credit Card Information / Bank account information
    •What vehicle you drive and its registration (based on the idea put forth in the OP)
    •Digital copy of your signature

    Even if this service had the best security , anyone working for the service would have all of this information at their fingertips , even with multiple checks in place its very easy to abuse the system for someone who is a little too curious in a position of authority or who has mates that want some information and are happy to bribe or threaten said person.

    Even if this service had good business insurance coverage in the event of a breach to assist with damages, the fallout from it would be absolutely disastrous for anyone involved …can you imagine the damage control that you would then have to do for all of your information now available online for pretty much anyone with an interest.

    The best part about it will be you receiving an email several days later to protect its initial stakeholders "investments" saying "we are sorry , please change your password , everything will be ok…we are handling it , you can still trust us , we are doing the best we can , we could not have forseen something like this happening"

    Need i say more?

    • CalmLemons on 06/01/2022 - 23:48
      +2

      To be honest, if someone did want these details of yours, if anyone was that important and if they wanted it that bad, they can get it very easily.

      Doctors office would have most of this info, drivers license info anytime you've supplied it to a telco, credit card info straight from any website you've paid on.

      Digital copy of all our signatures is lying around the internet.

      Vehicle rego sitting right outside your house.

      Literally any government website, e.g. vicroads would have most of this info, you reckon they would be hard to hack? - let me reword that, would they even know if they had been hacked?

      • [Deactivated] on 07/01/2022 - 07:30
        +1

        @Gallifr3y

        You're not wrong but the main point i was trying to make is the difference here is it would all be in one central location

        Literally any government website, e.g. vicroads would have most of this info, you reckon they would be hard to hack? - let me reword that, would they even know if they had been hacked?

        Again you're partially right here , not many know they have been breached until quite some time afterward …to which the damage is already done , most current threats are exploited internally by decieving a human on the other end (i.e person clicks on attachment in email or link that appears legitimate and then malicious software is implanted into their computer) , or an SMS sent to your phone to collect your information through simple phishing techniques such as the impersonation of a legitimate company. (Example Here , Here …and here)

        There is also other vulnerabilities that still exist today (i.e Print Nightmare that companies are still trying to fully patch across their systems but due to the sheer volume they have to work through and/or using not the most effective practices for their machines it is still going to take some time. And that vulnerability for example had already existed for quite some time before it was even discovered. i work in the industry so i know first-hand that this is still the case.

        Further reinforcing my point that , similar to what you said…anything can be breached. but with this service , they would have access to it all in one hit.

        We live in a Digital Age where our information is the most valuable , not currency , but our actual data.

        I will leave you with something to think about , Why do we trust Banks with our money? (some don't and that's justifiable) but for the majority that do , why?

        We trust them because they keep things Physically secure , they are regulated by ASIC and audited regularly , they also have many ways to keep your information secure , such as Multi Factor Authentication , The fact they keep their own Audit Trails (This data is backed up daily and is never purged completely but archived at defined intervals of time.) , They have secure infrastructure with secure processes and they are in constant contact with many different government bodies

        You would be an absolute fool if you thought this service (once established) should be trusted with that amount of your information , even if they themselves come from a proper business disposition with good ethics that want to actually to provide a valuable service to the community.

        What i am ultimately trying to say is it all comes down to who you trust , and the reasons why you trust them. Banks give you reason to trust them (even if they are untrustworthy) , but there would be no reason anyone should use a service such as billsmoov if it cannot be secured in a similar fashion as i have outlined above and even if it could , by simple fact that amount of data and more could "potentially" be accessed illegitimately should raise red flags for anyone with a conscience.

        People's lives can be completely ruined if their information falls into the wrong hands.

        • [Deactivated] on 07/01/2022 - 13:30
          -1

          Another Relevant Article

          Just change the scenario from the identification in that story from being physically stolen to now being digitally stolen and you will still end up with the same result.

  • Lichen6420 on 05/01/2022 - 20:28
    +1

    I could see customer value in the service being able to offer ‘exclusive’ plans and offers etc

    Monetisation for the company can be largely achieved in much the same way referral award schemes work… ie offer signup bonuses to customers for churning their various services to providers you have negotiated deals with.

    As a simple example think of mortgage brokers, they can often give their customers better deals than available direct and they get lump sums and trailing commissions on the loans they refer. Extrapolate that over the full scope of household spending and you could be into a winner.

    If you can offer value back to the consumer in terms of ‘exclusive’ discounts, plans, signup bonuses etc from the various providers for the many services out there I could see people getting on board.

    Just needs to be sold correctly from the marketing side as a responsible financial management tool, convenience and exclusive discounts and offers for your customers

    I don’t see this being popular with the older traditional market segment as they are set in their ways but can see potential success with younger consumers like the BNPL space has achieved.

    Establishing trust in the brand is essential.

  • photonbuddy on 05/01/2022 - 20:34
    +1

    How are you going to protect against fraud?

    Imagine this scenario: I align all my big annual bills to occur in March. Rego, insurances, rates, etc. They total $5k for just that month. Add other ancillary bills, and annually it goes to $12k.

    I sign-up to your service, pay $1k for the first month, and then just stop paying. You pay my big bills.

    I wouldn't imagine banks would be allowing a chargeback from you against the bill providers, because the bill providers haven't done anything wrong.

    It's yet another trap for people who can't manage their money.

    How will you take your customers money? Credit cards? BNPL services?

    So much potential for a bad outcome here - on both sides.

    I'm sure most of us remember the many many families who had a ruined Christmas a few years ago because a company screwed-up on their pay-in-installments Christmas lunch and presents.

  • sassypants on 05/01/2022 - 20:39

    I'm like most who have commented and have no real issues managing bills.

    However, if I have a large bill or bills due in January; let's say its car rego + car insurance + health insurance that totals $5,000, your service would allow me to pay the $5000 over the course of 12 months whilst your company takes care of the bills immediately, at no additional cost to me? There is definitely potential in that from a user perspective.

    If all my bills were due in December though, not so much.

  • Max P on 05/01/2022 - 20:51

    Someone above mentioned that OzBargainer's might not be your target audience maybe have a look at asking somewhere like reddit…….. r/ausfinance etc

    • Associatedbillsmoov @ billsmoov on 07/01/2022 - 11:53

      Thanks for the recommendation

  • bio on 05/01/2022 - 21:22

    I personally wouldn't use that service but I'm not your target audience anyway. That being said, I'm not negative about the idea and I think it could work if the benefits can be successfully communicated to the audience.

  • Xetrok on 05/01/2022 - 21:40
    +1

    Check out what happened to Australia Post's Digital Mailbox, it was meant to be a single/centralised point for all digital mail and bills.
    Didn't really take off from what I understand.

    Looks like they transitioned it to mypost.

    https://delimiter.com.au/2012/03/28/australia-post-reveals-d…
    https://www.itnews.com.au/news/auspost-is-ditching-free-file…

    • SuperMid on 05/01/2022 - 21:51

      I despise au post and deliberately avoid as much of their services as possible

  • pikapika on 05/01/2022 - 21:49
    +1

    God no.

  • trapper on 05/01/2022 - 22:10

    It will mostly be people who struggle to pay their bills that will be interested in using your service.

    Now instead of struggling to pay those bills, they will be struggling to pay your bills, what happens then?

    • WhyAmICommenting on 06/01/2022 - 09:57

      Debt collectors!

      • Associatedbillsmoov @ billsmoov on 06/01/2022 - 10:23
        +2

        The hope is that by smoothing payments it make it easier for those who struggle to pay their bills.

        • trapper on 06/01/2022 - 11:14
          +5

          What happens when they don't pay though?

  • GoIdDigger on 05/01/2022 - 22:15
    +3

    Kudos for putting your ideas out there and taking some brutally honest feedback rather well. Hope it works out for you

  • meowbert on 05/01/2022 - 22:15

    Hi Justin, cash rewards and Qantas points for consumers. People who don't understand cash management don't GAF about smoothed payments. Seek revenue from businesses billing, aggregate and syndicate data for extra revenue.

  • Bren20 on 05/01/2022 - 22:17
    +3

    I can see the appeal in amalgamating all bills, and I'm not overly concerned about the privacy issues. I wouldn't value the 'smoothing' feature, but paying one consolidated bill would be a timesaver

    If you could value add by optimising peoples bills that would attract me - i.e. put me on the best plans. Maybe add a box on each bill saying how much i could save by switching plans, but it needs to be trustworthy, not just plans that give you good commissions. I think you'd struggle to add this feature given your business model requires good relationships with all companies

    I wouldn't use your service even if I was more attracted to it as you're a startup and I have no confidence you'll be around in a year, and would be concerned that you'll go insolvent without having paid my bills

  • CoreJava on 05/01/2022 - 23:57
    -2

    Useless service. Where do you get the income from?

  • noshopping on 06/01/2022 - 04:34
    +2

    Your service is targeted at a market that places more importance over time vs money, so I would say it's more for high net individuals. Personally I think there's decent market for this. PS. Nobody knows what they want, asking random strangers on a "savings" website is probably not a good idea. FYI, some of the best ideas in the world were all laughed at initially.. until it wasn't.

  • hopper on 06/01/2022 - 07:39
    +3

    If Facebook is successful then u should be too. It takes balls to start something new

  • Vote for Pedro on 06/01/2022 - 08:32
    +5

    I have no feedback. Good luck with your business. You’ve got the balls to put your money where your mouth is.

    Remember, the people who may likely use this service may be financially vulnerable. Do not be predatory.

    • Associatedbillsmoov @ billsmoov on 06/01/2022 - 10:19

      Yes absolutely. We are honestly trying to help. By smoothing payments out hopefully it gives those who live paycheck to paycheck more certainty

  • tighttighttight on 06/01/2022 - 09:15

    I might use the function, if its done by bigger company. e.g. Google.

    • Associatedbillsmoov @ billsmoov on 06/01/2022 - 18:34

      Yes thanks a few people have mentioned the trust issue which is definitely something we will need to overcome

  • exp1 on 06/01/2022 - 09:18
    +1

    Hey Justin - I actually think this is a great idea.

    I am doing this manually with a spreadsheet which totals all my yearly bill totals. I then divide by 12 and transfer to a transactions account. A game changer would be to have a single dashboard with all providers to change direct debit details on the fly - whenever i get a new cc this process takes ages.

    Main barrier to adoption for me would be brand trust (security). But if this is solved and if there is some additional value add e.g nominal
    discounts, special provider deals I can see this taking off.

    Remember lots of people saw no value in the afterpay model but look at it now - it’s basically a massive demand aggregator which this has potential to be. Good luck with it all!

    • Associatedbillsmoov @ billsmoov on 06/01/2022 - 10:22

      Thank you. Yes trust is an issue and we are looking to partner with the large service providers to create that trust.

      • Warehouse on 06/01/2022 - 12:32
        +1

        I'm the same with manual spreadsheet and tracking..

        If you can give me a dashboard where I can see all my bills and service providers, I'd transfer to you overnight. :)

  • jtc13 on 06/01/2022 - 09:24
    +1

    I like your business idea and think it has a lot of merit for those in the right financial position.

    I disagree that this might only attract those struggling to pay bills as I think there is a demographic that can afford to avoid all the headaches of multiple different bills by having it all managed for them. For that demographic the key trust element I think you would need to win is how will they know they are not getting ripped off by handing over the keys?

    How will they know that next years home insurance premium has not massively increased and a competitor is offering a way better deal? If you can solve for that type of hesitation I think you could be onto a great product offering.

    Best of luck.

    • Vote for Pedro on 06/01/2022 - 09:46
      +2

      My reference point was the Christmas Hamper market that spreads the cost over the year for the consumer but mark up (more than reasonable) the cost of the goods provided. So while sounding like good and easy financial management, in actual fact it is predatory on those that can least afford it.

    • Associatedbillsmoov @ billsmoov on 06/01/2022 - 10:21
      +1

      Thanks for the feedback. Yes we see two main users. Those who value the convenience and those who are cashflow conscious. On the latter it doesn't necessarily mean they are cashflow constrained but like to have certainty on cashflow for whatever reason.

  • Poor Ass on 06/01/2022 - 11:06

    Would you pay an user's credit card bill?

  • hoha99 on 06/01/2022 - 12:21
    +2

    This idea is equivalent to that guy with credit card idea for Andy's Business Seminar in The office S07.E14. Every time we pay a bill, this dude get a percentage! Bulletproof plan!

  • Warehouse on 06/01/2022 - 12:21
    +1

    I'm not bad with my bills but I'd sign up for this if I could just send everything to one place.

    I just want to see all my service providers and all the bills I'm subscribed to in once place.

    I feel like I do the same thing every couple months wasting time checking all my providers just in case I forgot a bill or something like my annual land tax that comes in 4 months before it's due… or my car rego… etc etc…

    Give me a one stop shop automated service with consolidated infrequent reminders, then you've got me :)

    • Associatedbillsmoov @ billsmoov on 06/01/2022 - 14:08

      Yes this is definitely one of the main value propositions and for me personally the thing I like most. Staying on top of bills is not difficult but annoying. I like the convenience of everything being in one place

      • Warehouse on 07/01/2022 - 15:54

        If you could add in multiple bill recipients, it will be all the much better. e.g. spouse bills or older parents bills that I'd agree to be responsible for and manage/pay on their behalf. Seeing all that in one place would be amazing…

  • wendellX on 06/01/2022 - 12:41

    Can't say I'm a fan of deliberately misspelled words. Why separate the logo into "bill smoo ✓"?

    • Associatedbillsmoov @ billsmoov on 06/01/2022 - 14:08

      Thanks. Noted. Trying to be clever with smooth and move but understand names are subjective

  • Tarnos on 06/01/2022 - 13:52

    This is very similar to an education fund, and so I would be looking for some sort of investment returns. I would also want this to manage the billing for me meaning I put money and don't have to manually input how much the bill was.

    I can see a lot of problems ahead, I suggest you limit it to a certain category - eg. electricity / water / gas / phone / internet rather than a wide net.

    I would also not put money with the company because if it goes bust i lose everything i put in - there needs to be some form of escrow or guarantee that we can withdraw at any time regardless of the company circumstances. In other words the company has to only operate as an intermediary and people's prepaid bills should not form part of the company assets.

    All the best!

    • Associatedbillsmoov @ billsmoov on 06/01/2022 - 14:11

      Thanks for your thoughts. It is a little different to an education fund in that we pay your bills for you upfront and then replace it with a smooth amount. Generally we have extended 'credit' to you as a user so the chances of losing money, even if we were to go bankrupt, would be extremely low. That risk would sit with the bank with which we are setting up a working capital facility.

      • Tarnos on 06/01/2022 - 14:17

        Oh, so this is a BNPL (BILL now pay later)? Meaning I don't have to have the funds there and your company pays for it first? How does that work?

        • Associatedbillsmoov @ billsmoov on 06/01/2022 - 14:22
          +1

          A little like a BNPL except we are providing a longer term solution instead of a sugar hit of a BNPL which helps for 4-6 weeks. Over the long run you will pay the same amount every month regardless of you monthly bills. We monetise it by charging the billers because we guarantee they get paid on time and reduce their overall transaction costs.

  • BuyoTheCat on 06/01/2022 - 14:03
    -1

    I do not understand how it works.
    You will need to illustrate a reallife case.

    personally, most of my bills are monthly, a few quarterly and even less annually.
    how would i benefit from this? (please dont say convenience!)

    • Associatedbillsmoov @ billsmoov on 06/01/2022 - 14:13
      +1

      Convenience aside, there a a few benefits. One for those bills that you pay quarterly and annually we make them weekly/fortnightly/monthly. For the bills that are seasonal like electricity and gas we smooth them. Lastly, we align payment with when you get paid. The last point isn't an issue for many people but there are a significant number of Australian's who live paycheck to paycheck and this could make a real difference.

  • flyboysyd on 06/01/2022 - 14:29
    +1

    There was a service like this started around 15+ years ago (started by a Chinese dude with plenty of cash to burn). I forget the name, something like onepay / onebill
    It was before mobile apps etc, they had to get the utility companies signed up and eventually you started see their logo/details on bills as a payment option.

    My friend worked there for a few years, then suddenly it just seemed to shut up shop.

    I think the business model was the utility gave the company a reduced price and they collected the full price from the end customer.

    Market for this seems to be small, maybe useful to some people.

    • roozmik on 06/01/2022 - 14:43

      I think this is called securitisation. I'm not sure if this would be the same business model.

      If it is, I doubt large companies like Origin or AGL would sell their invoices to unknown Billsmoov for a lump sum/cashflow injection.

      Large companies might already have an agreement in place to sell their invoices to a Bank - $$$$.

  • roozmik on 06/01/2022 - 14:33

    I think you'd really have to be struggling with your bills or lazy/stupid to use a service like this.

    So if you're targeting that demographic, there's probably a market for you!
    Then you'll have to deal with the problems that may come with this demographic.

  • studentl0an on 06/01/2022 - 15:05

    Dystopia masquerading as utopia.

    It sounds like something Klaus Schwab would love. It's probably already part of the "build back better" mantra that many rulers around the world chant in perfect robotic unison.

  • Brianqpr on 06/01/2022 - 15:34

    Doesn't My budget already provide something similar to this?

    • Associatedbillsmoov @ billsmoov on 06/01/2022 - 15:37
      +1

      Yes similar, but they charge $42 per week

      • Parasite on 08/01/2022 - 23:03

        MyBudget was the first thing that came to mind when you mentioned your service.

        I personally would not use this kind of service but I know a few people that would. At least there would be some competition for MyBudget :)

  • citra on 06/01/2022 - 16:05
    +1

    Only idea I can think if allowing people to pay creditcard which they normally wouldn't be able to. I.e you also pay their rent.
    This means they can earn points using your service

    • godzilla123 on 06/01/2022 - 17:33

      AND with little or(better yet) no fee when paying by credit card. (e.g Sniip 2.5%, Zip $2.5)

      • Associatedbillsmoov @ billsmoov on 06/01/2022 - 18:33

        Thanks for the feedback. Would love to do something like this but might be hard to make those economics work. Will have a look into it

  • GrueHunter on 06/01/2022 - 18:37

    The only unpredictable bills I have are electricity, gas and water, and even they fluctuate predictably between seasons. My provider already offers fixed monthly deductions. What else do I have that needed to be "smooved", and what's stopping me from just using automatic BPAY deductions to smoov them myself?

    • Associatedbillsmoov @ billsmoov on 06/01/2022 - 21:37

      Thanks for the feedback. Its exactly for those bills you mentioned, electricity, gas etc but also non monthly bills such as rates or car rego. Understand this solution is not for everyone especially those who are very organised, and don't have cash flow issues which sounds like your case.

      • GrueHunter on 07/01/2022 - 12:24
        +1

        So which do you reckon requires more organisation:

        "Hi, EvoEnergy? GrueHunter here. Can you switch me to monthly billing? Cheers."

        "Hi, billsmoov? GrueHunter here. GrueHu…that's right, you know nothing about me. Here's all of my ID info, and all of my banking info, and the details of all of my accounts with all of my providers, and the amounts of my past year's worth of bills for each, or enduring legal authority for you to contact all of those providers to get that billing information…"

        • rinco on 07/01/2022 - 21:54

          I suspect the user experience will always be worse with billsmoov than without. Not just when onboarding but for dispute resolution, changing utility service providers, offboarding, etc. But I guess that is not a concern for the target market i.e. the disorganised and poor.

  • SteveM on 06/01/2022 - 18:50

    I effectively did this by opening a free bank online account and transfer my regular spend (plus a few %) each week. I use suncorp bank so I get a few interest earning sub accounts and a visa debit card.

    Now, when a bill arrives, I transfer the required amount into a holding account and set it to pay by bpay a day before it is due.

  • So Was Red on 06/01/2022 - 18:55

    If I can accrue points or get some benefit or discount I'd be interested, otherwise I'd have to REALLY like your brand. I'd need you to be like a trusted accountant/parent who helps because they care not for profit.
    I read the name 30% as 'bill smooth' but said with a speech impediment (bad) and 70% 'bills move' as in I'm just moving them around like Credit card debt in American movies (worse).
    Good luck, I'm jealous of your ambition!
    Sent from my couch.

  • 91rs on 06/01/2022 - 19:32

    All of the obvious privacy, security and loss of control of your own services aside, what happens with fixed repayments on variable bills?

    Sometimes energy bills are high or low, this can also significantly change with little notice if people are suddenly at home a lot, very hot or cold season etc.
    Would credits apply at the end or then additional repayments be required on top at the end of the year?
    Even insurance if not for 12 straight months could increase if people are only choosing 3 or 6 months at a time for a policy?

    If people can't already manage their bills, giving them a fixed amount they think is "everything" and then serving them up a gap bill at the end would sour customers quickly.
    It would have to be made abundantly clear that anything that is consumption based (phone, energy etc) are not unlimited, people could easily get the wrong idea and end up with more debt.

    I would avoid this sort of service for a number of reasons, but mostly control. I see this much like a travel agent, the same mistakes can easily be made where services or policies are not enacted or incorrect selections are made which come crunch time could become a world of pain arguing with someone over the phone as to what you signed up for Vs what you've got. I've had more than enough flights and hotels not booked by travel agents (but charged for) and it's just additional effort to correct these things when it goes wrong, & its never the travel agent turning up at a hotel that's booked out and needing to find somewhere else to stay, or booking new flights then and there to get where you need to be.
    Which could be the same as finding out you're not insured after an accident, power disconnection for non-payment due to some stuff up with the third party.

  • [Deactivated] on 06/01/2022 - 21:25

    Most utilities and services now provide the ability to pay monthly. Pretty much all my bills are setup for monthly payment via direct debit or credit card. Something like Billsmoov would not help me as I have already solved the problem myself of having to manually pay bills and smoothing out the cash flow.

    • Associatedbillsmoov @ billsmoov on 06/01/2022 - 21:38

      Thanks Slacker. I understand this may not be for everyone but appreciate your feedback

  • CalmLemons on 06/01/2022 - 23:49

    To appease ozbargain, all you would need to do is provide cashback….and a coupon code. I'm sure these negative comments would go away. lol

  • franz87 on 07/01/2022 - 00:30

    Hi OP. I actually like the idea, and can see myself signing up to such a service. But only if the business model is as follows:
    - billsmoov proactively and frequently negotiates with various service providers to get the cheapest deal for its customers (large customer base = lucrative to service providers and strong negotiating power). This way I know you're working for me, and not for Telstra/Origin/Dodo etc.
    - billsmoov charges a small fee, no more than ~$10/month

    IMO your current model is not financially attractive. In any case, best of luck with pursuing your idea, must be very exciting!

    • Associatedbillsmoov @ billsmoov on 07/01/2022 - 09:33

      Thanks for the positive feedback. All the points you raised are really valuable and we are very much thinking along the same lines. We have a commercial model that we think works but are always looking at alternatives. Interestingly we didn't think people would want to pay for the service but a number have suggested they would. That is why this feedback is so important. Again thanks for taking the time to reply.

  • blackorange on 07/01/2022 - 06:21
    +4

    I think everyone already went on about security privacy etc so I'm just gonna point out something else. Maybe you're pitching it at the younger population but to a 40-ish person billsmoov as a name is kinda unattractive and immature. Is it bill… Smoov (what's smoov?) Bills… Moov (what's moov?) Or bill.. smoo.. v? Bills..moo…v? It just doesn't appeal to the older crowd. You want something catchy that people can spell correctly too. We are all geared towards trusting things that look more "mainstream", like I think afterpay took off cos the name just makes sense, the weirder the name the more people won't trust it innately.

    • lachhelix on 07/01/2022 - 13:57

      I'm in my 20s and gotta say the name doesn't do them any favours too!

  • vroomkroom on 07/01/2022 - 08:30

    Good idea and keep going !! Personally, I always wanted a service that consolidates all the bills in one place. TBH, I would be happy to pay $10 per month to outsource this task and also without spamming provide suggestion to move to better provider !! However, i think you need to build a solid reputation around data privacy. Wishing you guys all the best and will keep an eye as your move into GA.

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