More Than Two-thirds of U.S. Online Households Pay at Least One Bill Online, According to CheckFree Survey
May 17 2006 - 10:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
-- Online payments are increasingly replacing checks for bill
payment -- ATLANTA, May 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- CheckFree
Corporation (NASDAQ:CKFR) today announced the most recent results
of its survey, "The Latest Consumer Billing and Payment Trends,"
conducted every nine months by CheckFree Research Services with The
Marketing Workshop, Inc. and Harris Interactive. The survey, which
tracks bill payment behavior, revealed that 69 percent of U.S.
online households say they are paying at least one bill online, up
from 56 percent in March 2005. This includes consumers who pay any
bill from a single "consolidated" website, such as a bank, and
those who pay individual bills at a "biller direct" website, such
as a telecommunications or credit card company. Online payments are
steadily replacing check writing as the way to pay bills among
those surveyed -- with paper checks used for 37.5 percent of all
bill payments and online payments used for 35 percent. Interest in
subscribing to a consolidated bill payment service was also higher
among households that do not currently pay bills online, with 19
percent indicating they were "definitely interested" -- up from 15
percent in 2005. Among consumers who recently enrolled in a
consolidated service, the most influential source of information in
their decision was the bank branch, followed by the bank website
and word-of-mouth recommendations. Over the past three years, the
percentage of consumers citing the influential role of the branch
has almost doubled. "As paying bills online has evolved into a
mainstream consumer activity, ironically, face to face interactions
such as conversations with account managers or tellers, and
brochures given out at the bank branch, remain the most effective
way to market the service," says Matt Lewis, executive vice
president and general manager of CheckFree's Electronic Commerce
Division. "The website must also be easy to use to lead interested
consumers through the enrollment process, then on to making
payments and receiving bills online." Consumers who currently pay
bills online at a consolidated site indicate the leading benefits
of the service are convenience, ease of use, control and speed of
payment. When asked to rate the most important overall benefit,
current users said paying bills online: saves paper, stamps and
hassle (28 percent); is the easiest way to pay bills (16 percent);
ensures bills are paid on the day of their choice (12 percent); and
is faster than paying by check (11 percent). Electronic bills
enhance consumer satisfaction Electronic bills (e-bills) contain
the same information as a typical paper bill and are delivered
directly to a consumer's consolidated bill pay account or a biller
direct website. Of all online consumers, consolidated users with
e-bill were the most satisfied with their bank, online banking and
their bill payment service. - 61 percent of consolidated users with
e-bill rated themselves as very satisfied with online banking,
versus 54 percent of consolidated users without e-bill and 51
percent of consumers who use online banking but do not pay bills
online. - E-bill users said they were more likely to recommend
electronic bill payment to a friend or relative -- making 1.9
recommendations on average over the past three months versus
customers without e-bill service making 1.2 recommendations. -
Consumers who currently use e-bill selected the top three reasons
why they choose to receive electronic bills via their consolidated
service as: making sure the bill is paid on time (26 percent);
convenience -- just click and pay (22 percent); and e-mail
reminders (17 percent). Cost has virtually been eliminated as a
barrier to adoption. Currently, 91 percent of users who pay their
bills from a single consolidated website, such as a bank, brokerage
or credit union, say they receive the service for free. Among the
surveyed consumers who are not currently paying their bills online,
the most common barrier to adoption was lack of information about
the service, followed by security concerns. According to a study
released by Javelin Strategy & Research and the Better Business
Bureau and sponsored by CheckFree, Wells Fargo Bank and Visa USA,
when known, 90 percent of unauthorized access to sensitive
information is through nonelectronic traditional channels, such as
a lost or stolen wallet. The study recommends that consumers
replace paper invoices, statements and checks, which can be stolen
from unsecured locations such as mailboxes, with electronic
versions to help prevent identity theft. The study also recommends
that consumers monitor bank account activity through the phone, ATM
or Internet to detect potentially fraudulent activity more quickly
than through paper statements. The CheckFree-sponsored study was
conducted in December 2005 by The Marketing Workshop and Harris
Interactive via an Internet survey of 2,230 consumers 18 years of
age and older who pay at least some of their household bills.
CheckFree has conducted the Consumer Billing and Payment Trends
study with similar survey items at six regular intervals since
2001. About CheckFree (http://www.checkfreecorp.com/) Founded in
1981, CheckFree Corporation (NASDAQ:CKFR) provides financial
electronic commerce services and products to organizations around
the world. CheckFree Electronic Commerce solutions enable thousands
of financial services providers and billers to offer their
customers the convenience of receiving and paying their household
bills online or in person through retail outlets. CheckFree
Investment Services provides a broad range of investment management
solutions and outsourced services to thousands of financial
services organizations, which manage about $1.3 trillion in assets.
CheckFree Software develops, markets and supports software
applications that are used by financial institutions to process
more than two-thirds of the 12 billion Automated Clearing House
transactions in the United States. The division also provides
operational risk management, financial messaging, corporate
actions, and regulatory compliance software to more than 1,500
organizations across the globe. Certain of the Company's statements
in this press release are not purely historical, and as such are
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These include statements
regarding management's intentions, plans, beliefs, expectations or
projections of the future, and include statements regarding
forecasts and expectations of revenue for the fourth quarter of
fiscal 2006, earnings per share for the fourth quarter of fiscal
2006 and fiscal 2006 as a whole, free cash flow for fiscal 2006,
and sequential transaction growth and the general performance of
the Company's divisions in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2006
(paragraphs 8 and 9). Forward-looking statements involve risks and
uncertainties, including without limitation, the various risks
inherent in the Company's business, and other risks and
uncertainties detailed from time to time in the Company's periodic
reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission,
including the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended June 30, 2005 (filed September 2, 2005), Form 10-Q for the
quarter ended September 30, 2005 (filed November 8, 2005), Form
10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2005 (filed February 8,
2006) and Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2006 (filed May
9, 2006). One or more of these factors have affected, and could in
the future affect the Company's business and financial results in
future periods, and could cause actual results to differ materially
from plans and projections. There can be no assurance that the
forward-looking statements made in this press release will prove to
be accurate, and issuance of such forward-looking statements should
not be regarded as a representation by the Company, or any other
person, that the objectives and plans of the Company will be
achieved. All forward-looking statements made in this press release
are based on information presently available to management, and the
Company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking
statements. DATASOURCE: CheckFree Corporation CONTACT: Media
relations, Judy DeRango Wicks, +1-678-375-1595, or , or Investor
relations, Tina Moore, +1-678-375-1278, or , both of CheckFree
Corporation Web site: http://www.checkfreecorp.com/
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