In this modern age, we have seen many companies strive to move bill payment to the online realm. We have seen considerable growth in this area over the past decade. In 2002, only 17% of households reported using the internet as their primary method of bill payment. However by 2010, this number had jumped to nearly 75% of households. We can see that online bill payment is gaining popularity, but what has caused this rapid growth? What benefits does online bill payment hold for companies and consumers alike?
We can see upon further investigation that there are many benefits to paying bill online. Primarily, many companies and consumers see online bill payment as a part of a larger green initiative. The amount of paper that can be saved by moving bill payment to the online realm is astronomical over time. This provides benefits to the customer, as they cannot lose bills and may receive reminders about bills about to become overdue when enrolled in online billing. The benefits for companies include reducing waste and increasing efficiency.
The worries associated with online bill payment may be fears of identity theft or a general dislike for technology. However, one can rest assured that due to the benefits to companies and the environment associated with online bill paying, companies are doing all they can to streamline the process. Many companies now offer automatic bill payment, where a payment is automatically charged to a card or bank account at a predetermined date each month. This takes bill payment from what most people think of to be a boring and especially tedious task to something that hardly has to be worried about at all.
However, these benefits are not the only benefits of online bill pay. The instantaneous nature of these bill payments assures the customer that they need not worry about the bill once it is paid online. Unlike traditional bill pay methods, which may require a trip to a post office, online bill payment offers the customer in most cases some sort of immediate invoice and perhaps even the already discussed automatic payment. The lure here is the simplicity of paying bills online; it is one less thing to worry about and time that can be devoted to other goals. Paying bills no longer has to be a hassle, in fact, it’s as simple as the click of a mouse.