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Data for today’s episode is provided by Mercator Advisory Group’s Report: U.S. Bill Pay Market: Can Financial Institutions Win Back Payers?
Consumers Anticipate Struggling to Make These Critical Bill Payments:
- A 2015 CFPB study revealed that 43% of Americans find paying their bills in a typical month somewhat or very difficult.
- The lingering impact of COVID-19 will mean some consumers will struggle even more to pay their accumulating bills.
- 38% of 3,100 adults surveyed by TransUnion in November 2020 anticipated struggling to pay their credit card bill.
- 37% of consumers anticipated struggling to pay their utilities bill.
- 34% of consumers anticipated struggling to pay their mobile phone bill.
- Rent (31%) and Internet (30%) bills rounded out the top 5 bills consumers anticipated they will struggle to pay.
About Report
Consumers’ demands and expectations for bill pay created the shift towards digital interfaces and also an expectation around a choice of payments and greater transparency regarding payment status. Their expectations are often better met through biller solutions, not banking platforms. With improved technology for financial institutions, there is an opportunity to bring consumer bill payers back and provide enhanced convenience through a single, consolidated tool, as covered in a new report from Mercator Advisory Group titled U.S. Bill Pay Market: Can Financial Institutions Win Back Payers?
”More modern options for bank bill pay that include better notifications and payment choice will help to bring consumers back to financial institutions’ bill pay platforms. Bill pay is a critical component to securing consumers’ preferred financial institution status. But I don’t expect that consumers will return to their financial institution to pay bills at same level experienced 10 to 15 years ago. Consumers have created the habit of paying directly with billers and the way that consumers establish services today, including the rise of the subscription model, supports more direct-to-biller activity,” comments Sarah Grotta, Director, Debit and Alternative Products Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group and author of the report.