Allied Payment Network, a provider of online bill payment services to the financial industry, announced that $2 billion-asset, Lubbock, Texas-based City Bank Texas has launched Allied’s Picture PayTM mobile bill payment solution.

Allied’s Picture Pay is the first mobile point, shoot and bill pay application for smartphones, enabling City Bank’s customers to easily and securely pay any bill by taking a picture of the bill with their mobile device. Picture Pay is an added functionality to City Bank’s existing mobile banking app. More than 40 percent of City Bank’s customers utilizing its traditional online banking product have adopted the mobile app, which is higher than the industry average. [MORE]

Through Picture Pay, once a customer takes a picture of a bill with their smartphone, they simply enter the amount and payment date and the bill is paid. Picture Pay’s technology reads the data from the bill and its built-in analytics confirm the biller. Then, Picture Pay automatically executes through Allied Payment Network.

Picture Pay also streamlines the payment process by identifying and automating payee set-up, which has proven particularly helpful for customers’ non-recurring payments. Additionally, Picture Pay provides City Bank customers with the option to expedite payments for a small convenience fee, which eliminates more expensive late fees for customers and generates additional fee revenue for the bank.

“As mobile payments become more prevalent, we felt like a traditional bill pay feature for smartphones could prove cumbersome, with limited adoption. We needed a bill pay solution that embraced the mobile platform to ensure our user experience met our customers’ evolving needs,” said Jim Simpson, chief technology officer for City Bank. “By implementing Picture Pay, we’re able to achieve that goal with a unique offering that will set City Bank apart from other financial institutions in our competitive market.”

“City Bank is a true leader in providing outstanding financial management services, and integrating bill pay capabilities into its mobile banking environment demonstrates the bank’s commitment to serving its customers,” said Ralph Marcuccilli, president of Allied Payment Network. “The biggest challenge with bill pay adoption is the hassle of entering payee and account information. Because of Allied’s innovative technology, Picture Pay is poised to solve this challenge and allow institutions, like City Bank, to cost-effectively compete with regional and national banks. We’re pleased to work with City Bank and look forward to helping them increase customer retention and loyalty.”

For a demonstration on the ease of using Picture Pay, watch this video.