Nearly One of Three Consumers is Past Due on at Least One Bill—Due to COVID-19 Pandemic, New ACI Worldwide Research Reveals
May 18 2020 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
Nearly 50 percent of consumers will need 4
months to one year to catch up on their bills
Nearly one of three consumers (27%) is past due on at least one
bill and nearly 50 percent will need up to a year to catch up on
bills due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new study from
YouGov and ACI Worldwide (NASDAQ:ACIW), a leading global provider
of real-time electronic payment and banking solutions.
The study of nearly 1,400 U.S. adults analyzes the financial
impacts brought about by COVID-19 and includes regional and
generational bill payments breakdowns and priorities. While nearly
half of millennials need to make bill pay arrangements or request
deferrals, less than 15 percent (13%) of baby boomers face similar
circumstances, while 31 percent of Gen Xers have similarly
requested a payment arrangement.
With mounting bills, consumers are tasked with prioritizing
those they pay first. Among all respondents, Mortgage and Rent are
the overwhelming priorities, at 81 percent and 78 percent,
respectively. This is followed by Utilities at 23 percent, a nearly
50 percent dip from Rent. The lowest bill payment priorities
include Cable/Internet and Cell Phone, at 3 percent and 5 percent,
respectively.
Bill Payment Priorities Overall
- Mortgage: 81 percent
- Rent: 78 percent
- Utilities: 23 percent
- Tax bills: 15 percent
- Auto lease/loan: 10 percent
Bill Payment Priorities by Generation
- Top Millennial and Older Gen Z Bill Priorities: Rent (73%),
Mortgage (60%)
- Bottom Millennial and Older Gen Z Bill Priorities:
Cable/Internet (4%), Cell Phone (11%)
- Top Gen X Bill Priorities: Mortgage (80%), Rent (80%)
- Bottom Gen X Bill Priorities: Cable/Internet and Cell Phone
(5%)
- Top Baby Boomer Bill Priorities: Mortgage (90%), Rent
(81%)
- Bottom Baby Boomer Bill Priorities: Cable/Internet (1%), Cell
Phone (2%)
When asked about personal financial outlooks, consumers with
past due bills have different perspectives.
From an Age Perspective:
- Baby Boomers are most pessimistic, expecting to take 1-2 years
to recover
- Gen Xers expect to catch up in 4-12 months
- Millennial and Older Gen Z are most optimistic about catching
up on past due bills, expecting to do so within 3 months
From a Regional Perspective:
- Nearly 30 percent of those in the Midwest expect the longer
1-2-year recovery
- 53 percent in the Northeast expect to catch up with 4-12
months
- Nearly 50 percent of respondents in the West expect to catch up
within 3 months
“With increasing job losses, furloughs and reductions of hours
and pay, so many consumers are facing substantial financial
difficulties—resulting in both overdue bills and bill deferrals,”
said Sanjay Gupta, executive vice president, ACI Worldwide.
“Consumers, now more than ever, need financial flexibility. We’re
seeing more billers working to accommodate and ease consumer stress
and provide payment relief. However, with more than 44 percent of
consumers indicating it will take 4 months to a year to get current
with their bills, there is much more work to be done here.”
Survey Methodology
All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total
sample size was 1,384 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between
April 29-30, 2020. The figures have been weighted and are
representative of all US adults (aged 18+).
*ACI’s rapid response approach to COVID-19 includes new
capabilities—Delay My Payment and Manage My Payment—designed to
help billers and their consumers with short and long-term payment
pause and payment plan arrangements.
About ACI Worldwide
ACI Worldwide, the Universal Payments (UP) company, powers
electronic payments for more than 6,000 organizations around the
world. More than 1,000 of the largest financial institutions and
intermediaries, as well as thousands of global merchants, rely on
ACI to execute $14 trillion each day in payments and securities. In
addition, myriad organizations utilize our electronic bill
presentment and payment services. Through our comprehensive suite
of software solutions delivered on customers’ premises or through
ACI’s private cloud, we provide real-time, immediate payments
capabilities and enable the industry’s most complete omni-channel
payments experience. To learn more about ACI, please visit
www.aciworldwide.com. You can also find us on Twitter
@ACI_Worldwide.
© Copyright ACI Worldwide, Inc. 2020
ACI, ACI Worldwide, the ACI logo, ACI Universal Payments, UP,
the UP logo and all ACI product/solution names are trademarks or
registered trademarks of ACI Worldwide, Inc., or one of its
subsidiaries, in the United States, other countries or both. Other
parties' trademarks referenced are the property of their respective
owners.
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PR Dan Ring dan.ring@aciworldwide.com 781-370-3600
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