Study: consumer bill payment migrates to online, mobile channels
Money transfer specialist The Western Union Company released its most recent Money Mindset Index, a study of how consumers pay their bills, and no surprise, use of mobile bill payment is on the rise. According to the study of U.S. consumers, 12 percent of respondents said they intend to pay more bills from their mobile devices, while 39 percent said they will pay more bills online in 2013. Fourteen percent of respondents said they plan to make a payment on their mobile devices in the next six months.
"Consumers are increasingly looking for new ways to manage their bills, which points to the need for continued innovation by service providers across the payments industry," said David Shapiro, senior vice president of payments at Western Union. "Less than one-third of payments occur via non-electronic channels, and consumers continue to use a mix of payment methods that provide enhanced choice, flexibility, control and convenience around their lifestyles and cash flow."
Other findings in the study include:
- 46.5 percent of bills are paid via a biller, bank or credit union website;
- 19.6 percent of bills are paid via an automatic deduction or recurring payment;
- 3 percent of bills are paid via a landline phone; and
- 2 percent of bills are paid via mobile phone.
The Western Union Payments Money Mindset Index was conducted by Javelin Strategy and Research in December 2012. It included 3,002 randomly selected participants from the U.S.
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