3 Actions to Meet Rising Digital Bill Payment Volumes

According to the latest Datos Insights How Americans Pay Their Bills, 2023 industry report, an incredible 10.6 billion bills are paid online by American consumers. Of this, 77% of online bill payments are made on direct billers’ digital solutions (e.g., website, mobile app).

And this number is growing. In 2010, 62% of online bill payments were made through billers’ web and mobile offerings. Conversely, bill payments made through financial institutions’ bill pay offerings shrank from 38% in 2010 to just 21% in 2023.

But volume growth can be a double-edged sword if your legacy billing and payment solution is limited in its payment offerings or appears outdated.

Consider a restaurant that does a good business and makes a fair profit each year. As word-of-mouth spreads, the restaurant sees its popularity grow to the point where it is regularly packed. Suddenly, everything is put to the test. The kitchen must work faster without sacrificing quality. Servers must be more attentive. The online booking system must accommodate greater traffic.

If just one of these elements is not geared to perform at its best during high-traffic times, it risks making the restaurant a victim of its own success. Here are three proactive measures billers can take to stay ahead of rising volumes.

Bill Pay Demographics Tell the Story

Unsurprisingly, the online bill pay growth trend has been driven in large part by the proliferation of younger bill payers. As these digital natives have come of age, they’ve relied on digital payment solutions to a greater degree than older Baby Boomers and seniors.

It’s safe to assume that this trend will continue, making it imperative for billers to ensure that their digital billing and payment solution is ready for prime time.

Meet Rising Digital Bill Payment Volumes

While there are many steps we recommend billers take to prepare for and take advantage of this increase in digital transaction volumes, here are three that rise above the rest.

1. Focus On Inclusive Payments

In the land of technology, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that nearly 20% of payments are made by check (15%) and cash (3%). Billers can digitize these forms of payment through the holistic Paymentus solution.

Cash bill pay offerings include Walmart bill pay, PayPal digitized cash and Scan-To-Pay. Each of these offers underbanked, unbanked and cash-preferred customers the ability to use your website to initiate the process of paying bills, turning your online bill payment solution into a solution for all payers.

2. Deploy a Modern UX

Thanks to eCommerce, bill payers are used to high-end, intuitive online payment experiences. This relies on a user experience that is both simple, convenient and in line with modern aesthetics.

A dated customer portal with limited payment options can both impact on-time payments and consumer confidence in the biller’s brand. Modern UX must simplify the act of paying a bill and managing an account – with a design style to match. This is one of the surest ways to get your bill to the top of the priority pile.

3. Promote AutoPay

60% of consumers make each payment individually or as a one-time payment. That places more than half of all bills at the risk of being forgotten or paid late each month. It also creates a situation where more than half of consumers must rely on an online experience to meet their payment needs, month after month.

AutoPay offers set-it-and-forget-it convenience for consumers, while allowing billers to maintain consistent, verifiable monthly cash flows. This can offset the rise in transaction volumes, as payments are automatically debited without the consumer ever needing to visit the biller site. Paymentus offers AutoPay as a standard part of its billing and payment solution, and have helped numerous clients drive adoption through our complimentary Client Adoption Success Team (CAST) marketing program.

*All statistics courtesy of “How Americans Pay Their BIlls, 2023,” Datos Insights, October 2023

How Americans Pay Their Bills, 2023 offers a comprehensive look at today’s billing and payment landscape. The in-depth report features vertical-specific breakdowns by payment type, channel and demographic. Download your report today.