Payment Processing Leader Offers Earth Day Discount to Help Environment

PRLog (Press Release) – Apr 22, 2008 – PaySimple, the leading provider of on-demand electronic payment solutions for small businesses, continues to honor its commitment to make the lives of small business owners easier by not only simplifying the invoicing and collections process, but also by empowering small business owners to do more to help the environment.

As part of this strong commitment to both entrepreneurs and the environment, PaySimple is waiving the initial merchant start-up fee--a savings of $199—as a one day offer to honor Earth Day, celebrated on April 22nd.

According to a study commissioned by the PayItGreen Alliance, if one in five households switched to electronic bills, statements, and payments, the collective impact would save 151 million pounds of paper, avoid filling 8.6 million household garbage bags with waste and avoid producing 2 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions. The alliance is asking financial institutions and businesses to encourage their customers to turn off paper bills and statements and make payments electronically, and PaySimple supports them in this quest with this special “green” promotion.

“Many small businesses are created to make a difference in their communities, but due to budgetary restraints, decisions are often made on a basis of what is ‘financially sound’ and not necessarily what is ‘environmentally sound’,” said Eric Remer, CEO, PaySimple. “For PaySimple customers, financially and environmentally sound choices are in fact one and the same.”

The PaySimple solution is an on-demand Software as a Service (SaaS) platform that enables small businesses to bill, collect, and manage their customer payments under one user-friendly system. The PaySimple solution includes recurring billing, email invoicing, web/telephone payments, ACH direct-debit, EFTs and direct deposits, credit card processing, e-check processing; check conversion, and business software/shopping cart integration. Best of all, small businesses do not need any technology experience to use or customize the system. PaySimple designed a solution with the small business needs and budget in mind.

Electronic payments utilize the speed and convenience of online billing in addition to providing a number of other peripheral benefits. Businesses increase their customer’s experience and loyalty by offering simple, predictable and on-time billing solutions. Inversely, businesses reduce their cost and dependency of paper statements.

Another survey, an initial environmental assessment of a 2007 study by Javelin Strategy and Research, predicts astounding reductions in both pollutants and the consumption of natural resources. The study estimates if all U.S. households paid their bills electronically, it would:

•   Save 18.5 million trees each year, or the amount of lumber needed for 216,054 typical single-family homes.
•   Reduce toxic air pollutants by 2.2 billion tons of CO2 equivalents, akin to having 390,326 fewer cars.
•   Reduce by 1.7 billion pounds the solid waste generated in a year, equal to the raw tonnage generated by Detroit in a year's time.