BlueGill Technologies Inc. next week will introduce newproducts for companies that want to offer online bill presentment and payment. Web Direct software will convert standard print-stream data being used to produce paper invoices into HTML or a PDF file so it can also be presented on the Web. And three new payment modules will let merchants receive funds directly from customers or via the two primary bill-processing companies, CheckFree and TransPoint.

But grabbing data bound for printers doesn't allow the two- way communication desired by companies trying to use their bills as a way to increase sales and boost customer loyalty. "HTML is one-way presentment," says Richard Pickering, BlueGill's VP of marketing. "It's very static." Yankee Group analyst Paul Hughes says Web Direct offers "a baby step" for companies just getting started in billing. "To go to a completely interactive environment takes a substantial investment," he says.

Pickering says a typical implementation of BlueGill's full- feature i-Series software is priced at about $300,000. Some companies, however, are reluctant to spend that kind of money when the billing market is so new and there aren't yet any clearly defined best practices. "There is still a lot of wait and see going on," says Hughes, adding that scaled-down software such as Web Direct allows banks and merchants to get in the game but still keep their options open.

Billers don't exactly need to rush into online billing. A Yankee Group study last year found that 44% of all U.S. households had PCs and only 4.5% of those were paying some type of bill online.