In today’s world, checks and cash are still popular methods of bill payment. Writing checks is convenient as it keeps a paper trail that you may need to refer to later on. And while checks do take time to process, they can bring peace of mind knowing that a solid documentation of your payment exists. But if you would like a quicker option then cash may be your best bet. With the right precautions taken, cash is the quickest way to make all types of payments and get the job done fast.
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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
Checks and Cash Aren’t Preferred for Consumer Bill Payment, but They’re in Use!
- 4 in 10 US consumers still pay bills via check, though less than 1 in 5 consumers rates it as a preferred bill pay type.
- Similarly, 20% of consumers pay bills in cash – though only 10% prefer to.
- Debit cards are the most popular bill payment method in the US, used by 47% of households
- Younger consumers aged 18-34 are more likely than other cohorts to use debit cards (60%) and cash (34%).
- 90% of older consumers (55+) use a desktop computer to pay bills.
- 63% of younger consumers (18-34) use a smartphone.
- 9% of younger consumers (18-34) use a smart speaker to pay bills, compared to 1% of older consumers (55+).
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 for paying their bills.
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.
