There are a variety of methods consumers can use to pay their bills. The most common method is to write a check and mail it to the company. This method is simple and straightforward, but it can take a few days for the check to be processed. Some companies also allow consumers to pay online. This can be a convenient option, but it requires consumers to have a credit or debit card and an internet connection for digital bill payment. Some companies also offer automatic bill payment, which allows consumers to set up recurring payments. What are the methods consumers are using for paying bills?
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Data for today’s episode is provided by Mercator Advisory Group’s report –North American PaymentsInsights, U.S – Subscription Services and Bill Pay: Card Payments Dominate
7 Ways Consumers Are Paying Bills:
- 60% of consumers use an automatic payment method.
- 44% have an automatic deduction from their checking; 38% have an automatic charge for a credit/debit card.
- 60% of consumers use a digital payment method.
- 39% of consumers use a biller’s website or mobile service; 28% use their bank’s website/mobile.
- 9% of consumers use a bill pay service.
- 27% of consumers pay by mail.
- 13% of consumers pay in person.
About Report
Mercator Advisory Group’s most recent consumer survey report, Subscription Services and Bill Pay: Card Payments Dominate, from the 2019 Technology Survey of the bi-annual North American PaymentsInsights series, examines U.S. consumers’ current use of subscription services and methods used.
The report, which is based on an online panel survey administered to 3,006 U.S. adults in November-December 2019, presents results from questions exploring how adults in the United States use and pay for “box of the month” clubs and online subscription services. It also explores the ways consumers pay their bills and the increasing importance of digital bill payment.
Regarding subscription services in the U.S., consumers are about twice as likely to subscribe to an online subscription service as to subscribe to a “box of the month” service (59% vs 23%). Interestingly, a relatively large portion of American adults (38%) do not subscribe to either type of service.
When it comes to paying bills, the majority of consumers (6 in 10) are currently paying at least some of their bills electronically through either automatic billing or bank account withdrawal. Consumers are paying bills in equal proportion through electronic bill pay via their bank, their biller, or bill pay service.
“This report explores two very important aspects in the payments ecosystem—subscription services and bill payment. Electronic payments play a very large role in both of these areas, and it is important to understand the payments dynamics of both,” stated the author of the report, Peter Reville, director of Primary Research Services at Mercator Advisory Group, which includes the North American PaymentsInsights series.
