Companies Scramble to Simplify Bill Payment Experience for Consumers

PYMNTS’ latest research shows that most bill-paying consumers in the United States face challenges in the bill payment process. In the last 90 days, more than half faced at least one pain point, such as a lack of payment options or security concerns.

“The One-Stop Bill Pay Playbook: Friction Within the Bill Payment Experience,” a PYMNTS and Mastercard collaboration, explores what bill pay platforms must know about consumer preferences. We surveyed 2,099 bill-paying consumers to determine their levels of satisfaction with the bill payment experience, identify the key causes of friction in the process and gauge how they feel about third-party bill pay portals.

Key insights detailed in the playbook include the following:

• Bill-payers prioritize security above all other features of the bill payment experience.

Fifty-two percent of U.S. bill-payers rank security as a top feature in the digital bill payment process, and 20% rank it as the most critical feature. The ability to view and pay bills from a single online platform was ranked next, with 38% rating this as important and 13% saying it is the most important feature.

• More than half of U.S. bill-payers recently experienced friction when paying bills.

Fifty-two percent of bill-payers encountered at least one pain point when paying bills in the past 90 days, with 29% experiencing multiple issues. Twenty-two percent noted a lack of features, and 15% a lack of payment options. Those who pay their bills through non-digital channels are even more likely to encounter pain points.

• Most bill-payers are open to using one-stop bill payment portals.

Fifty-nine percent of bill-payers are open to using a single bill payment platform or a “one-stop shop.” Several reasons drive their interest in these platforms: 54% believe a one-stop shop would make it easier to track bills, 52% said it would make it easier and more convenient to pay bills and 50% said it would enable faster payments.

To learn more about the top frictions in the bill payment process and how companies can reduce these frictions to improve customer satisfaction, download the report.