Survey: Faster Payment Methods Will Soon Be the Norm as Consumers Rely on Smartphones

When it comes time to pay their bills, many consumers are turning to their smartphones, while a recent survey by PayNearMe found that 45% of adults in the U.S. would have an easier time paying bills on time if they got a text alert.

This shift comes as consumers are increasingly abandoning paper checks and other manual payment methods, with the move to electronic forms of payment accelerating since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The number of ACH transactions conducted on The Clearing House’s electronic payments network climbed almost 10% from year-to-year, according to recent company announcements. This growth is part of the ongoing trend toward both consumers and businesses making more payments electronically, Jason Carone, senior vice president for TCH, said in an interview with PYMNTS recently.

Same-day ACH payments also saw particularly substantial growth, with their volume increasing 74% between 2020 and 2021. Businesses and financial institutions (FIs) must ensure they can support such payment options as consumer preferences become increasingly digital.

Quicker payment solutions, such as real-time payments, are also becoming more and more familiar as a growing number of banks and merchants in the U.S. adopt these methods.

A recent survey by the U.S. Faster Payments Council showed that 86% of study respondents — a group made up of FIs, FinTechs, payment network operators and other entities — have already begun using faster payment services. The need to support swift, seamless payment options is apparently rising as 85% of respondents said they plan to invest in at least one additional faster payment system in the next two years.

Most respondents also indicated they believe faster payments will soon extend to cross-border transactions, with 90% anticipating this development within five years. Faster payment solutions look as though they’ll become ubiquitous in the larger financial ecosystem.

For more on this topic, download the latest Real-Time Payments Tracker®, a PYMNTS collaboration with The Clearing House.