Western Union Survey Reveals: Mobile is Influencing Consumer Bill Payment Behaviors and Choice and Convenience are Critical
August 12 2013 - 7:30AM
Business Wire
The Western Union Company (NYSE:WU), a leader in global payment
services, released the latest findings from the Western Union® Bill
Payments Money Mindset Index. The survey of U.S. consumers reveals
mobile device ownership and usage are changing consumers’ bill
payment behaviors, even as people continue to use different payment
channels like in-person or mail to meet their budget and lifestyle
needs.
For example, 15 percent of people surveyed indicate they plan on
paying more bills via a mobile phone or tablet and 13 percent via a
mobile app or text message over the next six months. Also, among
people who paid a bill using a mobile device, 65 percent did so
using smartphones and 25 percent using tablets.
But U.S. consumers aren’t just using online and mobile options
to pay bills. The survey underscores why choice and convenience are
critical to meeting consumer needs:
- 36 percent of consumers use three or
more channels, such as online, in-person, and others, to pay their
monthly bills
- 38 percent use three or more payment
methods, such as credit card, debit card, ACH, or cash, to pay
their monthly bills
- 18 percent of multi-method bill payers
and 27 percent of multi-channel bill payers used a mobile phone to
pay at least one bill per month
“The Western Union Bill Payments Money Mindset Index points to
increasingly tech-savvy consumers choosing to add mobile options to
their bill payment tool kit,” said David Shapiro, senior vice
president, Payments, Western Union. “Another key take-away for the
business community is the importance of meeting consumer demand for
convenience, flexibility, and choice; our customizable bill payment
solutions can help companies deliver on these needs.”
An infographic featuring expanded survey statistics is available
for download:
http://payments.westernunion.com/mobilemindsetindex
Additional survey statistics include:
Gen Y Leads in Mobile Bill Payment Usage
Nearly one in three Gen Y respondents (31 percent), age 18-34,
have paid a bill using a mobile device compared to 25 percent of
Gen X respondents, age 32-52, and 11 percent of Baby Boomer
respondents, age 48-68.
However, Gen Y May Surprise You:
- 41 percent of Gen Y respondents, age
18-34, use three or more channels to pay their bills
- 39 percent use three or more payment
methods to pay their bills
- 34 percent pay at least one monthly
bill through the mail
- 51 percent pay at least one monthly
bill directly through the biller website
- 39 percent pay at least one monthly
bill through their bank or credit union website
- 11 percent pay at least one monthly
bill through a third party bill payment provider’s website
Western Union offers a comprehensive suite of customizable bill
payment solutions for billers and their customers, including an
electronic Speedpay® service and a walk-in offering available at
nearly 47,000 Agent locations in the U.S. These solutions provide
businesses with innovative payment channels like mobile and online,
as well as electronic bill presentment and payment services. These
comprehensive options provide businesses and their customers with
choice and convenience, helping to streamline the bill payment
process, and improve customer satisfaction. For more information,
visit http://www.payments.westernunion.com.
About Western Union
The Western Union Company (NYSE: WU) is a leader in global
payment services. Together with its Vigo, Orlandi Valuta, Pago
Facil and Western Union Business Solutions branded payment
services, Western Union provides consumers and businesses with
fast, reliable and convenient ways to send and receive money around
the world, to send payments and to purchase money orders. As of
June 30, 2013, the Western Union, Vigo and Orlandi Valuta branded
services were offered through a combined network of approximately
520,000 agent locations in 200 countries and territories and
approximately 115,000 ATMs. In 2012, The Western Union Company
completed 231 million consumer-to-consumer transactions worldwide,
moving $79 billion of principal between consumers, and 432 million
business payments. For more information, visit
www.westernunion.com.
Survey Methodology: The Western Union® Bill Payments
Money Mindset Index, conducted by Javelin Strategy & Research,
has a margin of error of 1.76 percentage points and was conducted
in March 2013 with 3,087 respondents. The random sample survey
targeted online respondents based on representative proportions of
geography, gender, age, income, and ethnicity as compared to the
overall U.S. adult population.
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