Xoom streamlines cross-border bill payments

Digital money transfer provider Xoom Corporation has launched a new platform allowing US-based earners to pay bills online on behalf of family members and loved ones in developing markets.

Xoom Bill Pay has launched will allow cross-border bill payments to Mexico, Guatemala,El Salvador, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, in a bid to streamline remittance payments from people working in the US to their families back home.

“Xoom Bill Pay is completely changing the way cross-border bills get paid to Mexico and other countries,” 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 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.

The ability to query account balances in real-time, using only an account number is a crucial new addition to this process, the company says.

“In developing countries, where it’s very difficult for senders and beneficiaries to access bill receipts in a timely manner, [it is] 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.”

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.

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