M-bill payment use doubles in 2013 – report

According to a study entitled ‘The 2013 Billing Household Survey’ released by Fiserv, a provider of financial services technology solutions, the mobile billing and payment growth was driven primarily by smartphone owners, among whom mobile bill payment surged 150 %. Consumers who pay bills using their mobile device do so primarily for its convenience (70 %), anytime access (55 %) and time savings (49 %).

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

In addition, the survey revealed that more than 1 in 3 tablet owners had used their tablet to visit a biller site in the previous 30 days. The primary reason for the visit was to pay a bill (63 %) followed by accessing invoice information and history (36 %). One in four tablet owners use their tablet to pay bills at either a biller or financial institution website, which is an increase of 19 % over 2012. The survey also found that 60 % of tablet owners would like to receive e-bills on their tablet.