SINGAPORE - Nets on Monday (Oct 15) launched PayCollect, an online billing and collections service that will allow businesses to issue invoices and collect payments electronically.

Businesses will be able to send e-invoices as request-to-pay notifications via SMS or e-mail, and customers can make payment via DBS, OCBC, United Overseas Bank or NetsPay mobile apps by clicking on a link in the notification.

Smaller merchants such as tuition providers, dry-cleaners and handymen can use PayCollect on its own, needing only the customer's mobile number to send an e-invoice. Charitable organisations can also use it to streamline and lower operating costs of collecting donations.

For corporations and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), PayCollect will be integrated into popular accounting packages and allow businesses to track payment status in real time, and perform end-of-day reconciliation within their accounting processes. Accounting software MYOB offered by ABSS in partnership with Mint Payments is the first software package that will be supported, with other packages to follow soon after.

By allowing businesses to extend e-invoicing to consumers, and reduce cash and cheque use, the service complements existing national digitisation initiatives such as the nationwide B2B e-invoicing framework recently launched by the Info-communications Media Development Authority of Singapore.

"We're taking care of the most important but yet difficult part of any business operations - that of collecting payments," said Mr Ricky Lim, managing director of Nets Solutions.

"PayCollect is an end-to-end solution that effectively solves the last-mile collection problem for businesses by moving their entire billing cycle online and providing their customers with the ability to make e-payments directly and easily from a mobile device."

Merchants can visit www.nets.com.sg/business/ecommerce-solutions/paycollect/ to sign up for the service.