HelpPay is a new startup app that enables bill sharing and payment - to get new users to try the app they are offering to pay $10 off your utility or phone bill.
You need to download the app & register, then add a bill and post a link to bill payment page on FB - should take under 5 minutes.
It is only for the first 100 people that comment though.
No other strings attached.
Full Disclosure: I work for the company that helped develop the app
OR this might sound crazy but just hear me out… you could ask your family and friends to lend you some money and you don't have to put your business into the hands of some random company that also wants you to use facebook of all things. I mean what privacy?
Didn’t realise there was a gap for this in the market.
You didn't realise that 20,000 households were disconnected from electricity supply.
In one state (QLD).
In one three month period (Q3 2017).
After a 200% increase in prices one year after privatisation.
Australian's don't realise much.
My electricity bill was double compared to this time last year - so I understand how people are struggling to pay bills.
This company does nothing to help the situation though. Instead they take another 5% from your friends to help pay it for you.
If you're in a position that you're asking friends to help you pay bills, wouldn't you rather save that 5% or put it towards your bills rather than give it to some random company?
"hey, can you just transfer me via beam it or payid to help for my bills?"
" Nah man, let me use help pay so I can give away 5% for no good reason…"
I have incurred some expenses with some 'buy now, think later' ozbargaining. Can you mod the app to help me out?
Cannot believe someone or several people signed off a business model to "crowdfund your bills"… Facebook required on top of that, what is this, 2010?
FB is not required for the app, just for this promo.
You should be more upfront about there being additional fees that get added to your bill.
Below taken from a bill someone shared on FB.
Processing fees & charges
$3.83
HelpPay charges cover all third-party costs such as credit/debit card and bank processing fees ($) as charged to us by these institutions inclusive of GST. We also charge a small surcharge to cover some of the HelpPay platform costs ($ inc. GST). We are always working hard to minimise these fees for our users
If you need to split BPay payments with others, why not just get them to transfer their share to your bank account for free instead? Just seems convoluted requiring more effort, more expensive and just unnecessary imo
Payment pages do clearly state all fees - happy for suggestions on where else they should appear.
CC Fees charged are a straight pass through cost from Stripe - these will go down as volumes go up. For now there is a $1 fee per transaction to cover all other costs.
Thanks for your feedback.
The payment page itselff doesn't outline fees
HelpPay charges cover all third-party costs such as credit/debit card and bank processing fees ($) as charged to us by these institutions inclusive of GST. We also charge a small surcharge to cover some of the HelpPay platform costs ($ inc. GST). We are always working hard to minimise these fees for our users
Imagine you're a new customer trying to figure out the fees starting on the home page - how many clicks does it take?
Sign me up if I they helpPay my mortgages 🤔
And pay an additional 5% or so in fees?
Happy to pay extra 5% in fees if I'm not the one paying the mortgage lol
I really wanna hear the pitch for this business when they were looking for investors.
I can appreciate that you're wanting to post a deal but this sort of thing is not going to be well received by ozb community- the service essentially stacks fees on top of debt… which is not the most efficient way to pay your bills. The only utility I could see in this is if family are worried you'll spend the cash somewhere else (e.g. for people with addiction problems), and this ensures that the money goes towards bills. Maybe that's a better way to market the product.
No other strings attached
Other than your privacy and security
Interesting idea, I guess it’s no different to gofundme etc but at least you know exactly what the money is going to. I’m sure it will help some people
(Facebook Required)
I know that there's been a lot of backlash against this concept. But I agree with Japius. Someone who has issues paying bills might not be someone you want to lend money to because you don't know if they will misuse that money. This might be an easier way to crowdfund for an emergency vet bill for instance. I think utility bills are a bit silly as realistically if you can't pay your utility bill I'm assuming you're someone who will inevitably hit up mum and dad and not crowdfund a way out. This isn't something I'd use but I have genuinely not been part of crowdfunds for people who I know have bad spending habits because I don't know if I'm helping them out or just adding to their issues. This at least gives me the peace of mind that no one is making money off a crowdfund and that it's going to pay something specific.
Or you can save 5% or so in fees by simply asking for the bill's account number and making a payment directly via phone or web portal… I know this is super easy for Sydney water and energy Australia…
True - but there is an ease that the service offers that might be worth the small amount of money. I probably wouldn't use it but I can see it being useful that's all
I suggest going to Centrelink Frankston and asking people if they need help.
Need to build a customer base that way and get word of mouth.
Why Frankston?
Why not?
Why not Toorak?
@Wardaddy: That wasn't the suggestion.
Maybe you can make another suggestion for Toorak…
Might be hard to do though as there is no Centrelink in Toorak.
Must join Facebook? I'd rather go to debtors prison than descend into that sewer.
I've done what's required in the deal. What else do I need to do to get the $10 bonus?
Never mind. Have deleted my account.
This deal is not a bargain.
It'll cost more using this service to pay a $400 bill than just paying it straight to the vendor.
They should do it for free, as they would make plenty of money selling their customers' private data to Facebook and Google
HelpNotPay that would be better
So you give HelpPay a bill you’re struggling to pay, they generate a link for you. You share the link with friends and family who can log in and help pay for your bill for you.
Your friend clicks the link and pays via Credit Card, HelpPay then BPay your bill on your behalf.
Looks like their platform / transaction fee comes to about 5% for a $50 bill.
Didn’t realise there was a gap for this in the market.
Fee Breakdown