People Are Warming Up to Paying Monthly Bills Electronically
New data released by ACI Worldwide shows "consumers expect to decrease their use of more traditional channels."
The number of consumers using digital and mobile methods to pay bills is rising, and consumers appeared ready to make even more changes in their bill-paying habits over the coming year, new data from electronic payments company ACI Worldwide suggested.
More than one in five consumers has increased their use of company websites to pay bills in the past year, and about the same number decreased their use of mail and in-person payments, according to the study of more than 3,000 adult consumers in the United States. A full 57% of consumers now pay their bills via company websites, and 21% pay their bills via mobile apps.
In addition, about a third (31%) of the respondents have paid a bill through a financial institution’s website, and 39% of mobile wallet users have paid a bill through a mobile wallet, according to the survey.
“While digital and mobile billing and payment options have been available to consumers for years, we’re finally starting to see adoption of these channels surpass traditional channels in some key areas,” ACI Worldwide EVP Sanjay Gupta said.
Consumers want more choice when it comes to how they receive billing statements and notifications, Gupta added. Almost half (42.3%) of the respondents in the ACI Worldwide survey said they preferred email alerts for bill notifications and reminders, and the preference for mobile text alerts rose from 11.2% in 2018 to 13.2% in the first quarter of 2019.
“Notifications are a crucial component of getting people to pay their bills on time,” the study noted. “Adding mobile channels, like an app or mobile wallet for notifications and payments, can make it even easier for consumers to quickly make urgent or same-day payments right from their smartphone. These additions can reduce the need for more costly alternatives like in-person or phone payments.”
Consumers expect to make even more changes in how they pay bills over the coming year. More than half (51.9%) said they believed they won’t use traditional paper checks to pay bills in the next 12 months, and almost half (49.2%) said they probably won’t pay any bills by mail. More than half (51.2%) said they won’t pay any bills in person at a company’s office, and more than 70% said they won’t pay any bills at a financial institution branch or in person at a third-party payment provider.
“It’s promising to see that in addition to the increase in digital and mobile channel usage/preference, consumers expect to decrease their use of more traditional channels that can often be costly for the biller,” the report said.
Traditional paper checks haven’t completely died, though — in the first quarter of 2019, 28.2% of the respondents said they still used them to pay monthly bills, which was a decrease from 32.1% in 2018. When it comes to paying one-time bills, debit cards and checking account deductions were the most-preferred methods, followed by credit cards. Only about 11% wanted to pay using a paper check.
U.S. consumers have nine bills on average to pay per month, and 79% of them use between one and three different channels to pay those bills, ACI Worldwide added.