Pitt tosses traditional paper billing

Pitt replaced traditional paper billing with eBills — online statements that are accessed… Pitt replaced traditional paper billing with eBills — online statements that are accessed through official University e-mail accounts — for all students effective this month.

Administrators behind the switch describe it as part of the University’s ongoing effort to more efficiently handle billing and create a more convenient method of payment for students and authorized payers.

Students can now access the network from any Internet connection 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They can also receive immediate account updates and bill payment reminders.

In addition, students can authorize parents, guardians or others to access their billing information and make payments.

Raymond Hoare — an assistant professor in the department of electrical and technical information, who worked on the Network Immunization Project, a 2004 push to enable networks to respond faster when they are compromised — said that he thinks electronic billing is a good idea for Pitt because the University has well established protection methods.

Hoare said the most probable hypothetical problem that students may face is user authentication.

“If someone gets your name and password, they can access personal information,” Hoare said. “The computer system does not know if you are you.”

Jinx Walton, the director of Pitt’s computer services and systems development, said that students’ fears should be quelled by the fact that this is not the first year Pitt has used electronic billing. This is only the first year that the University will discontinue sending the paper bill alternatives.

Walton also said that the University has taken the appropriate actions to ensure its students’ protection, such as:

Required user ID log-ins.

Secure sockets, which hinder the interception of information.

Encryption.

Firewalls that protect the server by keeping hackers out.

Intrusion detection to constantly monitor hackers.

Virus filtering.

Bob Lech, of Pitt’s financial aid office, said that the University will protect students from identity theft by not displaying Social Security numbers on their accounts.

“We are doing what we see best to make sure that information is secure,” Lech said.

He also explained the payment options available to students and authorized payers.

One option is to pay by credit card; however, paying by credit card brings with it a 2.75 percent convenience fee that is collected by processors and is non-refundable.

Students can also choose to pay with an electronic check that would use their regular bank account numbers and has no fee.

Students can still make payments via the mail or direct deposit from paychecks.

Lech pointed out that students will no longer have to wait in long lines to pay bills, authorized payers such as parents or guardians can log on and make payments, and the University can eliminate more than 120,000 statements it mails out per year.

Students can expect to receive their eBills on or around July 20.