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.

2009 is set to be another big year for BPAY's e-presentment service BPAY View, as more and more Australians look for ways to simplify and 'greenify' their lives. Launched in 2002, the BPAY View service allows customers to receive electronic bills and statements from more than 40 billers, including Origin Energy.

As one of Australia's leading energy companies, Origin Energy provides gas and electricity to over three million homes and businesses across the country.

Origin Energy is also Australia's leading provider of green energy and energy-related products, with its 100 per cent Green Power range rated by Green Electricity Watch as the top three in Australia for the past four years.

In keeping with its sustainability focus, Origin was quick to recognize the economic and environmental benefits of electronic bill presentment, but did not have the internal systems to support it. Origin chose to partner with BPAY View as the system was already established and BPAY had proven success in electronic bill delivery.

Origin launched BPAY View across four biller codes in June 2008; Origin Energy Electricity, Origin Energy Queensland Gas, Origin Energy South Australia and Origin Energy Victoria.

There were four main reasons behind Origin's decision to launch BPAY View:

• The program provided significant cost reduction benefits due to reduced printing and postage expenses;
• From a marketing and branding perspective, it aligned perfectly with Origin's strong environmental credentials;
• BPAY View enabled Origin to deliver bills in a timely manner, which meant it could reap the full financial gain of early customer payments;
• Customer satisfaction: offering a hassle free payment option which enables bills to be paid without complaint or delay has led to strong customer retention.

To support the launch, Origin conducted a joint six-month marketing campaign with BPAY in the second half of 2008. The multimedia campaign included a number of online and offline activities, including web banners, a dedicated BPAY View page on the Origin site, call centre activity, bill, on hold and envelope messages, and statement inserts.

Origin anticipated that a targeted marketing campaign towards existing BPAY users would successfully draw customers across to BPAY View. This proved to be true, with the campaign prompting high levels of consumer activity, resulting in a significant number of BPAY View registrations.

In just seven months, close to 17,000 Origin bill recipients have signed up to BPAY View for their electricity and gas accounts. In addition, the number of customers choosing to pay via electronic methods has risen by ten per cent, from 37.7 per cent to 47.9 per cent.

Origin's marketing department has plans to launch a second promotional campaign to coincide with their next bill cycle in Spring 2009. It is expected that the number of BPAY View registrations will increase significantly in line with this continued marketing focus.

If a BPAY Biller is interested in learning more about BPAY View or potential joint marketing opportunities, please contact the BPAY marketing office via email: marketing@bpay.com.au.

Since the introduction of scheme debit cards, an increasing number of Australians have chosen to move away from credit cards and spend their own money when making payments.

This shift has largely been driven by the youth demographic, who are significantly more likely to own and use debit cards, although people of all ages are recognising the benefits of avoiding credit card debt.

Figures from the Reserve Bank show that the number of debit transactions made over the last financial year has increased by 15 per cent, in comparison to just an 11 per cent growth in credit transactions*.

This increased uptake in debit cards has prompted a subsequent demand from consumers to make bill payments from a debit card account. BPAY's 2008 Usage and Attitude Study showed that 18 per cent of bills (across all payment methods) were paid via debit card over the past 12 months, and this figure is expected to increase in 2009.

For businesses with a young consumer base, accepting BPAY payments from a scheme debit account makes sense and assists in strengthen their value proposition to this target group.

More generally, with current economic conditions continuing to encourage consumers to look for new ways to tighten their belts and reduce unnecessary spending, the cost benefit of using BPAY has never been more relevant. The option to pay bills from a debit account is another way billers can assist customers looking to make budget conscious decisions.

* RBA Payment Systems Annual Report 2008

More than three-quarters of Australian bill payers made a BPAY payment last year, creating increased demand for businesses to offer BPAY as a payment option for their customers.

BPAY and its members have now made it even easier for small businesses to join the 16,000 billers already offering the service with the launch of a simplified sign-up program.

The program has been developed based on small business feedback to account managers, and includes a short-form agreement, CRN generator tool and step-by-step guide, making the process from application to implementation quick and easy.

A number of financial institutions, including NAB, CUSCAL and St George use the short-form agreement, and CBA, ANZ and BankWest began offering the complete program in late 2008.

CBA has seen the number of small business sign-ups double each month since the launch of BPAY for Small Business, in November 2008.

The service not only gives customers another payment option, it also helps business owners improve their cash flow, streamline processes and eliminate unnecessary costs.

One of the first companies to benefit from the CBA program was online start-up company, Biz Buy Sell, which lists and markets Australian businesses for sale.

"The process was very simple, there was no set-up cost and the bank was really good with the processing and support information," said Biz Buy Sell Managing Director, Robert Meisel.

"These days you’ve got to make it really easy for customers to make payments, and BPAY is the way to go."

"The association with BPAY also gives the business added professionalism and credibility, which is an important consideration for start-up companies," he said.

For more information on how you can benefit, please contact your financial institution.

An unpostable payment is a BPAY payment that is unable to be posted to an account at the Biller, for example a payment made to a closed credit card.

An unpostable payment is generally caused by a CRN that passes the validation checks but does not link to an account at the Biller.

When an unpostable payment occurs, the Biller must contact their Biller Institution immediately. The Biller Institution will contact the relevant Payer Institution in order to have the payment returned to the payer. This is a key advantage BPAY has over other payment methods.

If you have any further questions please contact your financial institution.