The monthly, weekly or even annual bill is among the interactions a service provider is virtually guaranteed to have with a customer again and again. Yet consumers give the experience mediocre marks.
PYMNTS Intelligence’s “The Service Commerce Performance Gap,” produced in collaboration with Paymentus and published in September, surveyed 2,566 consumers in the United States and 240 senior billing decision-makers across automobile loans, healthcare and medical services, property and home insurance, and electricity and gas. Both groups were measured using the same 0-to-100 Service Commerce Performance Index, allowing provider perceptions to be compared with consumers’ experiences.
The results revealed gaps in how providers evaluate billing, how consumers want to pay and how the experience relates to customer retention.
Here are five things to know.
1. No Industry Earned High Marks
The overall Service Commerce Performance Index score was 65 out of 100, and no industry earned better than the equivalent of a C. Relationship quality was the weakest of the index’s three pillars in every industry, averaging 62.
Across the report’s 28 combinations of seven billing stages and four industries, none earned the equivalent of a B. Payment execution performed best, suggesting providers did a better job processing payments than building the broader billing experience around them.
2. Providers Graded Themselves More Generously Than Their Customers Did
Only 5% to 6% of service providers rated themselves below ideal on core billing capabilities. Consumers reported shortcomings at two to three times those rates.
3. Providers Underestimated Billing’s Role in Customer Loyalty
Only about 5% of service providers considered billing a major driver of loyalty.
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Consumers assigned it a larger role, as 58% said their billing and payment experience affected how they judged a provider’s overall service quality. The data indicated that a function providers may view primarily as collection infrastructure was also contributing to how customers evaluate the broader relationship.
4. Consumers Weren’t Paying Bills the Way They Say They Wanted To
Payment preference and actual use diverged.
According to the report, 55% of consumers would prefer to pay recurring bills with a credit card, yet just 18% most commonly did so. Digital wallets showed a 31-point gap, with 41% preferring them and only 10% using them most. Provider installment plans were preferred by 23% but used most by just 2%.
5. Poor Billing Scores Tracked Directly With Switching Risk
Consumers who said they were likely to switch providers had an average SCPI score of 56. Consumers planning to stay scored the experience at 76, a 20-point difference.
A similar pattern appeared elsewhere. Consumers who considered bill pay harder than retail checkout scored it 15 points lower than consumers who found the experiences equally easy. Consumers who frequently worried about affording upcoming bills scored nearly 20 points below those who never did.
Providers may also have limited visibility into what drives customers away. The report revealed that 65% said they understood their churn drivers well, but only 19% supported that assessment with data and segmented analysis. Among providers experiencing rising churn, 84% relied on general impressions or partial visibility instead of hard analysis.
Billing performance, in other words, gives providers a measurable customer-retention signal that many may not be tracking closely enough.
At PYMNTS Intelligence, we work with businesses to uncover insights that fuel intelligent, data-driven discussions on changing customer expectations, a more connected economy and the strategic shifts necessary to achieve outcomes. With rigorous research methodologies and unwavering commitment to objective quality, we offer trusted data to grow your business. As our partner, you’ll have access to our diverse team of PhDs, researchers, data analysts, number crunchers, subject matter veterans and editorial experts.
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