More consumers are using smartphones to pay monthly bills, and cards are their preferred method of payment, according to new research from Fiserv Inc.
Among U.S. adults, 6 million had used a smartphone to pay a household bill within the previous year, and they initiated 60% of those payments using a credit, debit or prepaid card, Fiserv said in a Dec. 7 press release.
Fiserv based the findings on the results of an online survey Atlanta-based Marketing Workshop Inc. conducted in May on its behalf involving 2,500 adult consumers. It assumed a total online population of 96.4 million out of 121 million U.S. households. The results suggest only 6% of consumers had paid bills using a mobile device.
The survey marked the first time Fiserv explored the question of mobile bill -payment in its survey, a Fiserv spokesperson says.
But the results also indicated that more consumers are poised to pay bills using mobile devices for convenience and to expedite payments near their due date, and using payment card information often is the handiest method, according to Fiserv.
Among respondents who paid bills via smartphone, 30% most often used a debit card, 23% used a credit card and 7% used a prepaid card. Forty percent most often paid bills with their phone using an automated clearinghouse withdrawal from a checking account.
Of those who used a smartphone to pay a monthly bill, 41% used their mobile device’s browser to pay the bill through the biller’s site. Another 22% downloaded a mobile app from the biller, while 17% paid the bill via text message, 13% used a bank-supplied app, and 7% used a third-party app, Fiserv says.
More than half, 58%, of the smartphone owners surveyed said they were interested in receiving bills and paying them with their mobile devices, while 42% said they were not interested in the channel for bill-payment.
Fifty-three percent of those surveyed interested in paying bills via their smartphone cited speed as the top reason.
“Mobile bill payment established a foothold in 2011, and, based on the survey results, we expect to see adoption of the service expand in 2012,” Eric Leiserson, Fiserv senior research analyst, said in a statement. “The mobile channel is emerging as a convenient way for consumers to access bills, get reminders and make payments, largely due to the proliferation of robust mobile technology and growing consumer awareness.”
A large contingent of consumers is using mobile devices to track bills, the survey data suggest. Some 42% of respondents said they had used their mobile device to view their monthly bill or payment history.
Approximately 40% of consumers surveyed said they had a smartphone, and 12% said they planned to get one within the next six months.
The results suggest that when developing billing and payment offerings, “financial institutions and billers have an opportunity to take advantage of new mobile capabilities and changing consumer behaviors to serve customers more efficiently,” Leiserson said.
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