Aether Enters Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment Market

Owings Mills, MD-based Aether Systems Inc. has launched a new Electronic Payments Division to focus on developing solutions that allow consumers and businesses to make or receive electronic payments via the handheld devices they carry today. As Aether's first entry into this market, the company has signed a Letter of Intent with CyberBills (Santa Clara, CA) to develop a wireless electronic bill presentment and payment service for the company's consumer distribution network. Aether has also named wireless and financial industry veteran Rod Stambaugh, the founder and former president of U.S. Wireless Data, to head its new division as general manager.

The new division will concentrate on building partnerships and developing applications on both the payment side, including extending online payment solutions wirelessly, as well as on the receivables side, including enabling businesses with a mobile component to accept electronic payments wirelessly. In the future, Aether will also seek to integrate its current stock trading applications with the new electronic payment capabilities so that mobile individuals can easily shift funds between various accounts, such as moving funds from a stock account to a bank account.

Aether will use its Aether Intelligent Messaging (AIM) technology to extend CyberBills' Total Bill Management service to a variety of wireless devices, including Palm organizers, two-way pagers, and cell phones. CyberBills' customers will be able to review and pay their bills from virtually anywhere they roam. Aether's network operations and customer support center will support the new service.

Edited by Ellen Jensen