Driven by Gen Y, mobile bill payment doubles in 2013

BROOKFIELD, USA: The 2013 Billing Household Survey from Fiserv, Inc., provider of financial services technology solutions, has found consumers are paying their bills in more ways than ever before, with the number of consumers paying bills from smartphones and tablets growing significantly.

Gen Y in particular prefers a variety of channels and immediate payment options, and uses the mobile channel to manage billing and payment more than other generations.

As more of these young consumers take on bill payment responsibility, a growing Gen Y effect will influence how billers are innovating and offering services based on changing consumer preferences.

Mobile billing and Payment proliferates as Smartphone use grows

Mobile bill payment usage doubled from 8 million U.S. online households in 2012 to 16 million in 2013. This growth was driven primarily by smartphone owners, among whom mobile bill payment surged 150 per cent. Consumers who pay bills using their mobile device do so primarily for its convenience (70 per cent), anytime access (55 per cent) and time savings (49 per cent).

It is important for billers to have a mobile-optimized website for bill payment as mobile-optimized bank and biller websites are the most popular choice when paying bills with a smartphone, although apps for billers and banks were also popular and grew rapidly.

Consumers are paying bills in more ways

The survey found that 83 per cent of consumers are using two or more channels to pay their bills each month. The average number of bill payment methods consumers use ticked up 10 per cent from 2012 to 2013, rising to an average of 3.2 channels each month. While the number of U.S. online households that pay a bill by check declined from 61 per cent in 2012 to 53 per cent in 2013, the number of households using mobile and tablet for bill payment gained ground, resulting in the higher number of channels used overall.

Many consumers continue to use established methods of paying bills like checks, phone or in-person payments, and 2 out of 3 believe it is important for billers to offer multiple ways to pay bills. The Gen Y effect is evident here as 74 per cent of Gen Y respondents consider offering multiple payment options important, compared to 67 per cent of all respondents.

"While new bill payment channels such as mobile and tablet are coming on strong, traditional channels remain in use, creating a need for billers to support an ever-growing set of billing and payments, channels and payment types," said Jardon Bouska, division president, Biller Solutions, Fiserv.

"Americans, particularly Gen Y, are hungry for multiple options for digital bill presentment and payment. Fiserv provides the most comprehensive suite of billing and payment options to billers and financial institutions, enabling them to realize and unlock the new opportunities a shifting consumer bill payment landscape offers," added Bouska.

Click here to view infographics highlighting the billing household survey findings!