Online Bill Pay Users Less Unhappy Bank Customers, NACHA Survey Finds

Online bill pay users are less likely to be dissatisfied bank customers than paper bill payers, according to a survey NACHA commissioned Javelin Strategy & Research to conduct and that was released at the NACHA Payments show in Seattle this week. NACHA is using the data to support its Pay It Green marketing initiative intended to spur adoption of online billing. Below is the video they've created for consumers:

Of those who are dissatisfied with their financial provider, according to the survey, 21% pay their bills only by mail, 18% are "double dippers" (meaning they pay their bills online but still receive paper invoices), and 11% pay all their bills online and do not receive any paper. Although there are obviously other factors that go into bank customer satisfaction besides the way customers pay their bills, Javelin president Jim Van Dyke says there is a strong and consistent correlation between paper bill paying and bank unhappiness.

Javelin surveyed 5,000 consumers. Those that pay all their bills online follow the geographic lines one would expect: among 18-to-24-year-olds, 45% of those are online bill payers; among those 25-34, 42% pay online; among 35-to-44-year-olds, 23%; and the numbers drop down gradually to 21% for the over-65 category.

Asked what drove them to accept online billing, 62% of bank customers that use it cited ease of access, 50% said they wanted to reduce clutter, 49% said their motive was to help environment by reducing waste.

And asked why they won't use online billing, 22% of non-adopters said they tried signing up for the online process but it was too complicated, 25% said they thought switching banks will be hard, and 22% said they wanted the hard copy of their bill or statement so they could type their payment information into a personal financial management tool like Quicken.