Since 2002, BPAY has commissioned global market research firm TNS to undertake its annual consumer Usage & Attitudes study.

The extensive study covers a range of topics to help BPAY and billers gain a better understanding of consumer attitudes, perceptions and trends.

The 2008 annual BPAY Usage & Attitudes study has revealed a continued decline in traditional payment methods as the online channel continues to grow.

The Usage and Attitude study found that 86 per cent of Australians used the Internet to make a bill payment last year, a 6 per cent increase on 2007 figures. This compares to 77 per cent of people who paid by direct debit, 54 per cent who stood in line, and 19 per cent who put a cheque in the mail.

Of the 86 per cent who paid a bill online, almost three quarters (71 per cent) used the BPAY service.

The shift towards electronic payment has been driven by demand from consumers and billers alike. The benefit for billers is two-fold, not only can they meet growing consumer demands for an electronic payment option, they can also take advantage of the added cost benefits of simplified reconciliation processes and guaranteed fund clearance.

As demonstrated by the study, billers efforts to encourage customers away from more expensive payment methods such as cheque, are seeing significant results. It is widely expected that this shift online will only strengthen in the coming years, as new internet access channels such as mobile banking and the Apple iPhone, become more widespread.

As expected, the study confirmed BPAY's continuing dominance of recurring household bills such as utilities and telephone, but also showed further increases across non-traditional bills.

BPAY is now the number one choice for payments such as body corporate fees and tax, and increasingly consumers are using it to invest in shares or managed funds, pay membership fees or top up their super.

BPAY CEO Andrew Arnott says the increase in non-traditional payments reflects the diversity of the biller network.

"We have more than 16,000 billers and are adding new biller codes at a rate of approximately 1000 per year," he said.

BPAY had the greatest share of bills in 2008, with 38 per cent of total monthly bills, followed by direct debit (27%), direct to biller (21%) and Australia Post (9%).

The scheme also has the highest spontaneous and prompted recall of any bill payment option, with 94 per cent total awareness.

The success of BPAY can largely be attributed to the unprecedented level of confidence consumers have in the service. As the study results show, consumers rank security, convenience and ease of use as the three most important attributes in a bill payment service, with BPAY outperforming its competitors in all three areas.

"Most consumers already know, use and trust the BPAY service offered to them by their financial institution, but awareness of the variety of different payments that can be made is increasing, which is great news for billers," Andrew added.

The 2008 Usage and Attitude study shows that BPAY remains the payment method of choice for millions of Australians, with approximately 240 million BPAY payments valued at more than $166 billion made last year.