Hearst's Manilla Launches Expansion Into Healthcare Category

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - Dec 11, 2013) - Manilla, the leading, free and secure digital mailbox service that allows consumers to manage their bills and other personal accounts on desktop, tablet and mobile devices, announced today that it has added healthcare accounts to its growing directory of more than 3,500 businesses and 400,000 custom-created local and regional accounts. Customers will now be able manage their healthcare accounts, including the option to view statements of benefits and deductible balances, in a separate section alongside Manilla's already established categories of financial and brokerage, household, travel, entertainment and subscription accounts.

This enhancement not only helps solidify Manilla's everything-in-one-place value proposition, but it also further establishes Manilla as the nation's leading consumer digital mailbox service and a lower-cost and timelier alternative to physical postal mail.

Manilla is also announcing a new partner commitment to immediate paper and postage cost savings, as well as a guaranteed return on investment through accelerated paperless adoption. Manilla is introducing a platform that will bring more insurer customers to partner websites.

"Our consumer research shows that the majority of people either haven't established login information for managing healthcare accounts online, or they can't remember what that login information is," said Jim Schinella, CEO of Manilla. "That's a crucial first step to building an ongoing digital relationship with their insurance providers. Consequently, consumers have a relatively unaided understanding of their explanation of benefits (EOB) documents, which are critical to understanding and managing their own healthcare."

According to a recent Manilla survey, more than 45 percent of Manilla customers said they were more satisfied with their service providers because Manilla makes it easy to access all of their important documents and visit partner websites with one password. By allowing consumers to use Manilla to now manage their healthcare accounts, Manilla will achieve its goal of helping insurers and their customers better communicate with each other in a way that strengthens the relationship between the two.

Health insurance companies are among the lowest paperless adoption business segments in the United States today. By joining the Manilla business network -- which already includes more than 170 brands, including industry leaders, such as AT&T, Citibank and DIRECTV -- insurance providers can now demonstrate not only environmental leadership but also their readiness for a deeper digital relationship with their consumers.

Manilla's business partners benefit from their customers receiving their bills and statements through Manilla. U.S. businesses spend 70 cents to $1 to print, collate, and mail every bill and statement. Manilla's efficient solution helps significantly reduce the traditional paper mailing costs to businesses.

About Manilla

Manilla organizes and simplifies people's lives by providing one secure access point to all household accounts and services. The free digital mailbox service helps consumers manage their mail and household accounts, including financial and brokerage, utility, travel, entertainment, subscription and healthcare accounts all through Manilla.com. Consumers can also use all of the Manilla features on the go by using Manilla's 4+ star customer-rated Android and iOS mobile apps. Under a single password, Manilla gives customers an automated, organized view of all of their account information, text and email reminders to pay bills, renew expiring subscriptions, and manage soon-to-expire daily deals, all with unlimited storage and seamless document retrieval.

Manilla is a company incubated within and backed by Hearst Corporation. Manilla is the recipient of the Webby Award and People's Voice Award for Best Banking/Bill Pay Service and was chosen as a top service on Kiplinger's Personal Finance's 2013 Best of Everything List, as ABC News "App of the Week," as one of Money Magazine's "Top Money Apps" and as one of PCMag.com's Top 100 Websites. For more information, please visit www.manilla.com.