Smartphone andtablet ownership are changing consumers’ bill-payment behaviors, with moreplanning to use the devices to facilitate the payments, new survey data show.The Western Union Bill Payment s Money Mindset Index found that 15 percent ofthe 3,087 consumer surveyed said they plan to pay more bills via a mobiledevice, and 13 percent said they would do so through a mobile app or textmessage over the next six months.
FromHeraldonline.com:
But U.S. consumers aren’t just usingonline and mobile options to pay bills. The survey underscores why choice andconvenience are critical to meeting consumer needs:
- 36 percent of consumers use three or more channels, such as online, in-person, and others, to pay their monthly bills
- 38 percent use three or more payment methods, such as credit card, debit card, ACH, or cash, to pay their monthly bills
- 18 percent of multi-method bill payers and 27 percent of multi-channel bill payers used a mobile phone to pay at least one bill per month
“The Western Union Bill Payments MoneyMindset Index points to increasingly tech-savvy consumers choosing to addmobile options to their bill payment tool kit,” said David Shapiro, senior vicepresident, Payments, Western Union. “Another key take-away for the businesscommunity is the importance of meeting consumer demand for convenience,flexibility, and choice; our customizable bill payment solutions can helpcompanies deliver on these needs.”
As more consumersbegin to use mobile and online banking initiatives, they are seeing thebenefits of using the service to pay their bills electronically. And as theybegin paying their bills via mobile devices, they start to do so with greaterregularity and with more billers over time. But the trend has taken years todevelop and only now is gaining strong momentum.
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