Aia Software and Bluem collaboration

New electronic channels for ITP users

Nijmegen, November, 2009 - Aia Software has announced its plans to work together with Bluem - a leading company for the ViaMijnBank electronic invoicing service and service provider for AcceptEmail. Bluem specializes in the electronic presentation and distribution of invoices in particular. Its customers are based in the Benelux and the United Kingdom. The increasing popularity of electronic invoices and bills is the reason behind the decision to join forces.

What does this mean for ITP users?

The ITP Document Platform currently controls the document flow. Thanks to Bluem, a number of extra electronic distribution features are going to be added. ITP users will be able to benefit from these new electronic channels without being faced with high integration costs. This is a massive gain for our customers.

What are the ViaMijnBank electronic invoicing service and AcceptEmail?

The bank effectively acts as a letter box. Instead of receiving invoices on paper, the customer receives them in his own online banking environment. A lot of different documents can be sent in this manner: not only invoices, but also pay slips, collection letters, pension summaries and insurance policies. Many companies are already creating their own environments, e.g. mijn.cz, mijn.ziggo, mijn.gemeente, etc. Thanks to electronic invoicing, the customer receives all of these invoices together in his or her usual banking environment, where they can then be paid and saved.

AcceptEmail complements the electronic invoicing service. Whereas electronic invoicing operates via the bank, AcceptEmail works via the customer’s own email address. The new feature in this service is the iDEAL payment button displayed in the email. Requests for payment are sent to the customer by email, and the button can then be used to make the payment straight away. This is known as a ‘smart’ email. As soon as the payment has been made, the iDEAL button disappears and the email’s colour code changes, so that this is clear for the customer. Companies primarily use AcceptEmail for sending reminders and handling collection reversals. Electronic invoicing and AcceptEmail therefore complement each other.

What can we expect from electronic invoicing and AcceptEmail?

More and more consumers and companies are using electronic invoicing and AcceptEmail. Over 200,000 consumers have regularly used electronic invoicing in 2009, and this number is steadily increasing. 90 companies are already using the system, including large telecommunications companies, insurance companies, energy providers, associations, pension providers, payroll companies, local councils and housing associations. Savings of 60% or more can be made on the costs of printing and posting the invoices. What is more, organizations receive their payments seven days earlier on average. No company could refuse this. Customers benefit from convenience, a good overview and the ability to check invoices. In short – electronic invoicing and payments have a bright future ahead.

Collaboration with Aia Software

Bluem is a key player in the field of electronic invoicing and payments. The company effectively acts as an online postman, by delivering electronic documents to customers’ banking environments or straight to their email addresses. This service is available for both companies with private customers and business customers.

Aia Software supports these new electronic distribution facilities. A key reason for this is that electronic output is efficient and inexpensive, and also environmentally friendly. Furthermore, anyone who uses Internet Banking can receive electronic invoices and securities with ViaMijnBank. These documents are currently still sent on paper as a rule. Aia Software has chosen to collaborate with Bluem because the company offers a range of innovative and sustainable distribution facilities using one single interface. Bluem also has received recognition from the market. The organization was joint winner of the VGP Innovation Award 2008 and winner of the XS4ALL Sustainability Award 2009.

About Aia Software

Aia Software is a leading global producer and provider of document and forms solutions. The ITP Document Platform enables business users to compose high quality, personalized, business-critical documents. Over 850 organizations worldwide already use ITP as an integrated solution to automate the production of standard documents in high volume, compose sophisticated individual correspondence from pre-defined paragraphs, or to dynamically complete Web forms. ITP can be quickly and seamlessly integrated with customers' existing application and technical platforms. Aia Software has branch offices in North America, the UK, The Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Australia.
http://www.aia-itp.com