Xoom Launches Cross-Border Bill Pay — Pay Bills Online, in Your Home Country, From the U.S.
Xoom Bill Pay – pay your loved one’s bills so they don’t have to
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — Xoom Corporation (NASDAQ: XOOM), a leading digital money transfer provider, has officially launched Xoom Bill Pay, a cutting edge technology platform that transforms cross-border bill payments, allowing people to pay their loved ones bills online. Xoom Bill Pay has launched with cross-border bill pay to Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.
“Xoom Bill Pay is completely changing the way cross-border bills get paid to Mexico and other countries, by providing a new and innovative experience for customers to pay bills in just a few clicks or taps,” said Bobby Aitkenhead, Vice President of Xoom Bill Pay. “Now, immigrants can easily pay their loved ones bills online, from the United States. This helps Xoom customers save their loved ones from the hassle and risk of paying their bills in person.”
“Xoom Bill Pay helps its customers take even better care of family members back home, with the same quality service and great experience they have with Xoom Money Transfer,” added Aitkenhead. “Xoom Bill Pay shows customers accurate account balances in real-time, and then they can pay a bill —or multiple bills—instantly.” The fee is $2.99 per bill paid.
Xoom Bill Pay allows customers to pay electricity, telephone, internet, cable, water and gas bills, from their mobile phone, tablet or computer. Currently, the service will facilitate payments to the most important utility providers in each country, including CFE, the sole energy provider in Mexico, TELMEX, the primary telephone provider in Mexico, and the CDEEE Group of Energy Companies, the sole energy provider in the Dominican Republic. Others include, Claro, Energuate, Gigacable, Movistar, Telefonica, Tigo, Tricomm, and more.
One Xoom customer, Concepcion Salinas, has already enjoyed the security, speed and reliability of Xoom Bill Pay. “My mom is 70 years old and lives alone,” Salinas said. “In the past, I had to send money for her to pay the bills. My mom has to go pick it up, then stand in line and go to each separate company to pay bills. With Xoom Bill Pay, my mom now doesn’t have to go out in the street. I don’t put her at risk.”
The ability to query account balances in real-time, using only an account number is a key differentiating feature of Xoom Bill Pay. This is crucial because:
- Senders have more visibility into their recipients’ expenses
- It’s difficult for senders and recipients to access bill receipts in a timely manner
- Many utilities in developing countries don’t allow partial payments
- Many utilities disconnect service after a single missed payment
“We believe Xoom Bill Pay is revolutionary for paying bills in developing countries, where it’s very difficult for senders and beneficiaries to access bill receipts in a timely manner, and also hard to have good visibility over recipients’ expenses,” said Aitkenhead. “In the past, money transfer recipients had to spend hours out of their day traveling to a bill pay retailer, just to stand in line, fill out forms and hand cash over the counter to pay for telephone usage or electricity. This is now a thing of the past as we have transformed the process by allowing customers to pay the bills cross-border on behalf of their family in an easy and efficient way.”
In 2015, Xoom plans to roll out bill pay services to other Xoom countries, including the Philippines, India, Vietnam, Panama and countries in South America.
About Xoom
Xoom is a leading digital money transfer provider that enables consumers in the United States to send money and pay bills around the world in a secure, fast and cost-effective way, using their mobile phone, tablet or computer. During the 12 months ended September 30, 2014, Xoom’s more than 1.2 million active customers sent approximately $6.5 billion to family and friends. The company is headquartered in San Francisco and can be found online at www.xoom.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 relating to, among other things, expectations, plans, and prospects for Xoom, including, but not limited to, its expectations regarding its expansion into new markets, ability to improve the way people around the world pay their bills and market demand for bill pay and money transfer products. These forward-looking statements are based upon the current expectations and beliefs of Xoom’s management as of the date of this press release, and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements made in this press release are based on information available to Xoom as of the date thereof, and Xoom disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
In particular, the following factors, among others, could cause results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements: the evolving nature of the industry in which Xoom operates; its failure to attract new customers or retain existing customers; economic, political or regulatory factors beyond its control, in the U.S. or in countries to which its customers transfer money and pay bills; fluctuations in foreign exchange rates; competitive pricing and marketing strategies by competitors; the adoption of competing technologies that supplant its services; the failure of partners to disburse funds according to Xoom’s instructions; declines in customer confidence in its business or in money transfer providers generally; potential breaches of its security systems; and other risks and uncertainties.
For a detailed discussion of these and other cautionary statements, please refer to the risk factors discussed in filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), including but not limited to Xoom’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013 and any subsequently filed reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K. All documents are available through the SEC’s Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval system (“EDGAR”) at www.sec.gov or Xoom’s website at www.xoom.com.
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