More people pay bills online than with paper checks

A recent survey sponsored by CheckFree, now part of Fiserv, Inc. found that more Americans than ever, an estimated 63.1 million households or three-fourth of those online, are paying their bills online rather than writing paper checks.

A little slower than email taking over U.S. Mail but, it finally happened. Actually for the second year in a row, American consumers who go online each month paid more of their household bills online at bank and billing organization websites than by any other method.

Some interesting facts from the survey:

• Internet-using households pay an average of 11 bills per month. Consumers use an average of three different ways to pay bills, with online, check, automatic debit and in-person topping the list of popular bill payment methods. Online bill payments at bank and biller websites comprised 42 percent of total monthly payments, followed by 31 percent of bills paid by check. See chart below.

• Fifty-one percent of survey respondents cited the environment as a reason why they chose to view and pay bills online. Of these, 72 percent identified paper and clutter reduction as chief benefits, followed by tree conservation (19 percent) and reduction in gas consumption (16 percent).

• Major credit cards (48 percent) were the most frequently cited e-bills received and paid at online banking sites, followed by cable or satellite television (42 percent), cellular phone (41 percent), electricity (38 percent) and local telephone (34 percent).

Data and segmentation about those paying bills online:

• Among younger respondents under age 45, 57 percent considered the environment as an important reason why they use online billing and payment, compared to 44 percent among those in the 45-and-older age group.


• Fifty-five percent of those living in the Western United States cited environmental concerns as a key motivation for online bill payment adoption versus 49 percent for other regions.


• Fifty-four percent of respondents who were aware their online banking site offers e-bills said they receive at least one e-bill, while 46 percent do not. The most appealing features of e-bills were due-date reminders, convenience and assurance that bills are never paid late.


• E-bill recipients were 45 percent more likely to report being extremely satisfied with their bank or credit union than non-e-bill users. Fully half of e-bill recipients said their experiences with e-bill had made them less likely to switch financial institutions in the future. E-bills are electronic representations of paper bills that are securely delivered directly to a business or financial institution Web site. With e-Bills, consumers can review balances, transactions and all other details available in paper bills, and schedule payments with just a few clicks of the mouse.


• Overall, 67.9 million households, or 80 percent of the estimated 85.1 million U.S. online households, use online banking services, up from 63.4 million in the 2007 survey.

• Those living in Western (83 percent penetration) and Southern (81 percent penetration) states were more likely to adopt online banking than those in the Northeast (78 percent) and Midwest (78 percent).

Additional Information:

You can watch a recast of the webinar where researchers from CheckFree and David Baron, vice president of Financial Research Services for Harris Interactive, provides insights into what made the survey successful.

In conjunction with the press announcement, CheckFree announced the launch of the new-and-improved eBILLPLACE.com website, which aims to inform consumers and the media about the environmental, time and cash-saving benefits of receiving and paying bills online.