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In the know

The 2011 BPAY Usage and Attitude Study

In 2011 BPAY continued its study into consumer behaviours and attitudes around payments and bill payments – known as the Usage and Attitude (U&A) study.

The 2011 study surveyed approximately 1,000 people aged between 16 and 75. With the study now in its 10th year this means that BPAY has spoken to over 10,000 people over the last decade. The study is a valuable tool as it provides key business insights into the consumer payments market and enables the tracking of long term trends.

This year some really interesting themes have emerged:

1. The financial environment

As might be expected given the global economy’s slow recovery from the GFC, the 2011 study revealed that around 40% of our bill paying consumers are "more concerned" about their finances than they were a year ago.

This concern has been reflected in people’s spending habits, with a marked decline in credit card usage and a corresponding increase in the use of cash and debit cards for paying bills. Cash use nearly doubled when compared to 2010. We have not seen a trend change of this size in the use of cash over the last 6 years.

2. BPAY’s performance

A key measure of BPAY’s performance is the level of brand awareness amongst our target market. In 2011, BPAY maintained an impressive awareness level of 90%.

Payment volume growth is a primary objective for the BPAY Scheme. A key driver of higher payment volume is the frequency of an individual’s use of a payment method. BPAY is the most frequently used payment method, beating electronic funds transfer and direct debit. Some 31% of consumers are using BPAY weekly.

Another key measure is an individual’s ‘share of bills’. This measures what proportion of the total number of bills an individual receives is paid using each payment method. In 2011, BPAY’s ‘share of bills’ remained higher than any other payment method at 36%.

3. BPAY on the move

One of the most interesting trends uncovered by the research is the increase in the number of people paying bills via mobile phones and tablets. In 2011, the proportion of people paying a bill via BPAY on one of these devices more than tripled when compared to the previous year (16% vs 5%). There was also an increase in awareness in the ability to make BPAY payments on a mobile device. Importantly 28% of consumers would consider using their mobiles to make BPAY payments in future.

This trend is likely to continue into 2012 and could fundamentally change consumer payments behaviour over the next couple of years.

4. Attributes

The U&A tracks the attributes consumers think are most important when choosing a payment method.

BPAY leads all other payment methods on the ten attributes that customers ranked as most important (Security, Free to use, Easy to use, Convenient, Reliable, Fast, Allows me to pay my bills in one place, Meets my needs, Requires least amount of ongoing effort, Puts me in control of my payments).

BPAY has always ranked strongly on the convenience and ease measures, so this year we decided to explore what these terms actually mean to individuals. The chart below illustrates what consumers mean when they say a payment method is easy or convenient.

5. Electronic presentment – BPAY View

The U&A research also looked at users’ attitudes to and experience of BPAY View. It found that over half (52%) of consumers would consider using an electronic presentment service in the future for bills, statements and annual reports. There is definitely an appetite in the Australian market to move to electronic presentment. The chart below shows the split of consideration levels by document type among consumers who currently do not receive information electronically.

Take-up of electronic bill presentment is likely to be boosted by the increasing number of companies that charge a surcharge on paper bills. According to this study, one in four consumers have incurred a surcharge for receiving a paper bill and nearly 50% of those say it makes them more likely to move to electronic billing in the future.

Specifically looking at BPAY View performance, 90% of current BPAY View users said they would re-register for BPAY View if they changed banks which is a positive result.

If you are interested in further details about the BPAY Usage and Attitude study, please contact your Financial Institution or contact us at marketing@bpay.com.au.

Taking a different Point of View

BPAY View is on mobile banking

BPAY’s electronic presentment service, BPAY View, was launched with a mere 2,000 registrations in its first month. Today there are over 2.5 million registrations to receive bills, statements and documents electronically.

As we progress into a mobile and cashless age we find that a growing number of Member Financial Institutions have taken a different approach in their BPAY View service offer to their clients. Suncorp bank is a prime example.

Suncorp was the first Financial Institution in Australia to offer mobile banking launching its platform in 2008. BPAY was considered an integral component of the mobile service and was offered as part of the initial platform launch.

Following customer demand and the proliferation of smart phones providing the ability to view images, Suncorp launched BPAY View on their mobile platform in 2009, the first Financial Institution to do so.

The BPAY View features on Suncorp’s mobile banking platform allow users to:

• view the summary details of their bills;
• download PDFs of their detailed bills; and
• choose to 'Pay Now' via BPAY.

Simon Clarke, Internet/Mobile Banking Specialist, of Suncorp believes that BPAY View is an important value add to their clients. "BPAY View offers the convenience of paperless banking. Clients don’t lose track of their bills, as they can be accessed from one secure location with emails and alerts set in place as reminders" says Simon.

With time being a major factor in our lives, the prevalence of mobile banking is becoming increasingly popular. "We now have just under a third of Suncorp’s internet banking customers using mobile banking, a number that has increased significantly over the last 12 months when compared to just seven percent growth two years ago," says Simon.

And if you thought that age was a factor when it comes to mobile banking and is something for tech savvy teenagers, you may be surprised "we recently identified an 84 year old man who owns an iPhone and enjoys paying his bills on the go" says Simon.

According to Simon, "Bill payment and transfers remain the most popular mobile transactions for both personal and business customers. BPAY makes bill payment as simple as possible and will continue to be seen as an integral part of our mobile banking service".