Consumers are eager to banish the uncertainty of legacy bill payment processes, Conduent’s Kathy Mertes explains, adding that real-time payments offer consumers a more accurate view of their financial circumstances.
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Consumers face a wide array of challenges when attempting to pay everyday bills. Of all the concerns, one of the most annoying is the time gap between submitting the payment and the recipient accepting it, which can leave the customer in limbo during the processing time.
“‘When am I getting paid? When are the credits there, and when are these debits going to hit my account?’” Mertes said. “And sometimes there is a reversal, which would, of course, create even more financial hardship for that particular consumer if it results in an overdraft fee.”
Real-time bill pay removes this critical knowledge gap and offers customers a more holistic view of their financial circumstances. Most customers have several bills to pay each month and need precise information on what funds they have to pay each one.
“There’s three different options that a consumer has when presented with a bill payment: Pay it right away, schedule it or ignore it,” she said. “Key next steps are to see banks adopt Request for Pay, therefore providing consumers with an ability to decision the bill pay request.”
Implementing instant bill pay is not a decision for corporates to make lightly, however. Mertes noted that there are many considerations organizations need to take into account, particularly how to handle customers who have trouble paying their bills and how to seamlessly integrate the real-time payments into their accounts receivable (AR).
“While we have seen that consumer satisfaction will be extremely positive,” she said, “every corporation should think about [the following questions]: ‘What will happen if a request [to pay] is declined or ignored? How can I make sure that I’m communicating with the consumer and giving other opportunities to pay? What are the particular outcomes of this bill pay?’ They need to ensure they are processing this appropriately in the back-office system, their call center and any touch points that the consumer might have with them.”