"The convenience of round trip electronic payment is astounding when the service is delivered through a financial institution", says Matt Lewis of Corporate Communications at Checkfree Corp. "Basically with a few clicks, you can view and pay bills and have your bank account (which you view simultaneously on screen) automatically reconciled. So no more balancing the checkbook, wading through bill stubs, and licking that nasty gum on the back of the envelope."

Other features of electronic bill presentment that promise to simplify bill payment include tracking the status of bills and payments anytime, viewing past bills, searching for a specific charge, or establishing auto-payment according to the user criterion (e.g. any bill less than $90). And in case a customer wishes to pay a bill which is not presented online, a "pay anyone" feature will allow customers to request that a check to be sent to any biller, or even an individual.

Bill issuers will have control over the bill design, as well as the content, look and feel. Therefore, features may vary for each bill. Some will allow customers to make online requests for credits and to settle disputes.

Checkfree's Matt Lewis believes as many as 30 percent of US households will "quickly adopt the service much like credit cards and ATMs by say, 2001 or 2002." He even feels it is appropriate for many elderly people, who are already frequent users of telephone banking. "I don't think this is a demographic issue. It's really behaviorally driven or pyschographic," said Lewis.