Mobile billpay up, but billers lack strategy

New research indicates substantial growth in mobile billpay offerings and usage over the past year—but only a small portion of billers participate, according to Fiserv.

Almost one in five visits to a biller's website come from a mobile device—a 55% increase over 2013. Of those visits, bill payment is the No. 1 consumer activity.

Despite the growing use of the mobile channel, only 16% of billers have implemented a mobile bill pay and presentment strategy.

As the number of mobile bill payers continues to grow, billers need a solid understanding of customer behaviors in order to develop a mobile bill payment strategy that addresses both customer needs and those of the billing organization, Fiserv says.

Expanding into mobile bill pay pays off

There is a definitive link between mobile bill payments and an increase in customer satisfaction and paperless e-bill adoption, in which an electronic version of a bill replaces the mailed paper version. Billers offering mobile billpay saw a 44% greater e-bill adoption rate since 2013, compared to billers that did not offer the same capabilities. Those offering alerts and notifications had a 47% increase in e-bill adoption compared to billers that did not.

"Consumers want a consistent, secure experience across all channels. And as consumer use of the mobile channel increases, so does the demand for an enhanced mobile billing and payment experience," says Eric Leiserson, senior research analyst, Biller Solutions, Fiserv. "Large and small billers alike can provide a superior experience with capabilities such as billpay alerts and reminders, and mobile image capture, which allows users to capture bill payment information with their smartphone camera.”

What’s stopping them

Billers face several barriers to implementing an MBPP strategy even though they see the added benefits. When asked to name their top three obstacles, 76% responded it is a challenge to provide the necessary IT resources, while 54% said conflicting priorities in their organization was an obstacle.

Security concerns were cited by 43%, rising 16% over the prior year. This is most likely a result of high-profile payment card security breaches and concerns about managing solutions for an increasing number of devices and operating systems as the mobile market expands.