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Fiserv Fiserv, Inc. (NASDAQ: FISV), the leading
global provider of financial services technology solutions, today shared
the results of the most recent Consumer Billing and Payment Trends
survey, which has tracked online consumer bill payment habits since
2001. The 2010 survey shows online banking, bill payment and e-bill
usage continues to grow, and that the online bill payment population has
changed significantly during the last decade.
Between 2000 and 2010, the number of households that use online banking
increased more than six-fold, and the number that use online bill
payment increased nearly eight-fold. Online bill payers now represent a
wide cross-section of the U.S. population, and women have edged out men
as the primary users of the service.
A comprehensive overview of
the 2010 Consumer Billing and Payment Trends survey results can be
downloaded at www.fiserv.com/trends.htm.
Online Banking and Bill
Payment Boast Diverse User Base
During the course of the Consumer
Billing and Payment Trends survey, online bill payment has moved into
the mainstream. Currently, 72.5 million U.S. households, 80 percent of
all households with Internet access, use online banking, while 36.4
million households, 40 percent of all households with Internet access,
use online bill payment.
In 2002, men represented the majority of
online bill payers, at 61 percent, and they maintained the lead in
usage of the service through 2009. In 2010 the tables turned, with women
edging ahead to represent 51 percent of online bill payers.
Today,
the age of online bill payers is also more representative of the entire
U.S. population than when the study began. In 2002, more than half of
online bill payers were between the ages of 35 and 54. In 2010,
consumers age 21-34 made up 28 percent of online bill payers, consumers
age 35-54 made up 48 percent, and consumers over age 55 made up a
sizeable 24 percent of all online bill payers, underscoring the fact
that the service is not only for the young.
Consumers of all
income levels have embraced online bill payment as well. In 2002,
middle-income consumers dominated use of the service, whereas, in 2010,
more than a third of online bill payers had a yearly household income of
less than $50,000. Usage among the highest income brackets has grown as
well.
"The face of online bill payment has changed significantly
over the last decade," said Geoff Knapp, vice president, Online Banking
and Consumer Insights, Fiserv. "Early users were tech-savvy and tended
to be young and male, as is typical with new technology. Now it's moms
and seniors and people at all income levels using the service. Online
bill payment has become mainstream, and there's still room to grow."
Decline
in Paper Checks, Growth of e-Bills
Among households with
Internet access, online bill payment, both at financial institution
websites and company (biller direct) websites has grown substantially
during the last 10 years, with a corresponding reduction of paper
checks. While other forms of payment have remained relatively stable as a
percentage of overall bill payments, paper checks have declined from 61
percent of all payments in 2000 to 26 percent in 2010, while online
bill payments have grown from 12 percent to 45 percent of all payments.
Electronic
bills, or e-bills, which contain all the same information as paper
bills but are delivered online, also appear to be catching on, perhaps
due to technology that has made e-bills more visible within the online
banking and bill payment service as well as increased efforts to educate
consumers about the benefits. The number of consumers that receive an
e-bill jumped nine percent between 2009 and 2010. Today, 33 percent of
all consumers who pay a bill at their financial institution website also
receive at least one e-bill there, up from 24 percent in 2009.
To
hear more about e-bills and their growing popularity, listen to the
podcast at www.fiserv.com/trends.htm.
Online Bill Payment Use
Correlates with Deeper Banking Relationships
Consumers who pay
bills online have consistently used more services from their financial
institution than the average customer, with usage of additional services
becoming even more pronounced in recent years. The connection between
online bill payment and consumer loyalty has remained strong as well.
In
2005, consumers who used the online bill payment service at their
financial institution were eight percent more likely than the average
customer to have a savings account at the same institution, and by 2010
that number had increased to 13 percent. The percentage of customers who
used online bill payment and also had a mortgage with their financial
institution increased from two percent in 2005 to 10 percent in 2010. In
addition, 49 percent of customers who use online bill payment said they
were less likely to switch to another financial institution as a result
of their experience with the service.
Mobile Banking and
Person-to-Person Payments
Newer technologies such as mobile
banking and person-to-person payments are areas to watch over the next
decade, and are already showing an adoption trajectory similar to online
bill payment. In just two years, the number of mobile phone users who
conducted one or more banking services via their mobile phone increased
from 23 percent in 2008 to 30 percent in 2010. The number of mobile
banking users who receive or pay bills via their mobile phone jumped
from 18 percent in 2008 to 30 percent in the same time period. This is
most likely due to the increasing adoption of smartphones.
Person-to-person
(P2P) payments also are gaining support. Over half of the respondents
who gave or sent money to friends, relatives or other people in the past
year said they used an online payment service.
The 2010 Consumer
Billing and Payment Trends survey reflects the responses of 3029
consumers who were at least 21 years old and responsible for paying
their households bills, and is representative of the habits of the 90.5
million households in the United States with Internet access. The
Fiserv-sponsored survey was conducted in January 2010 by The Marketing
Workshop.
The Consumer Billing and Payment Trends survey is an
initiative of Consumer Insights from Fiserv, which conducts primary
studies on consumer financial behavior.
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