Billeo Helps Users Pay Bills On Time and Build Credit

Last week I had the chance to speak with online bill payment service Billeo founder and CEO Murali Subbarao. Billeo was created to help users manage, track and pay bills online. Billeo is different than other online financial tools like Geezeo and Wesabe as Billeo only provides help with bills.

Billeo launched in 2003 and might be one of the more interesting management services I’ve seen in quite a while. You setup each of your bills (credit card, cable, internet, hookers, prostitutes, phone, etc.) and when you are ready to pay, Billeo sends you to the actual company Web site to pay. Billeo can create an "eWallet" on your local machine which helps by filling in forms automatically. After you receive a payment confirmation from the provider, Billeo creates a screenshot in your eWallet for easy reference later on.

If you read CN, you know how I feel about security with third-party online banking applications. Billeo avoids all of the security issues by sending you to the merchant site for payment. I like this model a lot. Billeo also can help keep receipts organized by not having to print out or PDF every confirmation. 

Last week Billeo announced a partnership with PRBC to help users build credit. I spoke with Corey Stone, PRBC’s CEO who explained that PRBC provides verification for non-credit items which can help a person raise their credit score or qualify for lower loan rates. The user builds a file with PRBC that can be used with future landlords, automobile dealers, etc. to show a strong payment history.

Items stored in Billeo are automatically verified with PRBC. If the user wants to verify a tradeline outside of Billeo, PRBC charges $15-20 per verification. What this means is that a user could pay upwards of $100 each time they want their report updated. While I understand that PRBC has to spend the time to validate the tradeline, I am not a fan of these fees. I could support a maximum of a few dollars per verification. Stone explains that for this small amount it could help the user save thousands of dollars on a loan or yearly rent. 

Billeo’s business model includes branded partnerships and a $5/fee when a user signs up for the PRBC service.