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By Nick Heath, 4 November 2008 15:53

Multinational logistics giant DHL is pulping its paper invoices and going digital to save money, trees and CO2.

The company is rolling out an e-billing service to about 30 countries across Europe - and by 2010 plans to slash more than one third of the 18 million paper invoices it sends out across the region each year.

Instead of receiving a paper invoice, DHL customers using the e-billing service - developed over the past two years with payment system provider Accountis - can access and approve their bills through a secure online portal.

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Brian Thumwood, DHL's e-billing manager for Europe, said each e-invoice was about 20 per cent cheaper than its paper counterpart, adding that each invoice could run to hundreds of pages.

Thumwood said the company expects to increase the number of e-invoices it sends by 30 per cent each month.

"Before we were dealing with about 88 different billing systems across the region and wanted a system that would work across the area," he said.

Thumwood said: "It is much cheaper to send out than a paper invoice and it also gives the customer faster access to the invoice, so they should be paying quicker as well.

"When you think we are sending out 18 million invoices a year the savings mount up and we plan to roll it out across all our European business divisions."

The system will also have 'green' benefits: it's expected to save about 2,400 trees and 600 tonnes of CO2 each year.

"It is not just the financial savings but also the reduction in the oil and water used in creating and transporting those documents," said Thumwood.

He said the e-billing system had improved customer relations by allowing customers to log an online query with DHL, rather than having to go through its contact centre, and by offering a backup of documentation online.

It also allows DHL's clients to check that invoices are correct before they are sent on to their customers - and can deliver an invoice to multiple people at the same time.