Online Bill Payment Survey

Factors influencing online bill payments:

• 54 per cent cited convenience as the most important that induced them into paying bills online
  
• 35 per cent cited time saving as they could pay bills without having to stand in line at a counter or even go a bill payment centre. On average, customers saved 24 hours a year; paying bills online also reduced paperwork and was an easier way to manage bills.
  
• 5 per cent were attracted to online bill payment because they could pay multiple bills at the same time on the same site or on different sites.

Demographic profile of online bill payers:

Age: 46 per cent of online bill payers were in the 26-35 age group, followed by the 18-25 segment, with 22 per cent. Most of online bill payers were young professionals, well-versed in the nuances of the Internet.

Gender: 83 per cent of online bill payers were male and 17 per cent were female.

Marital status: 43 per cent were unmarried, 14 per cent married with no kids, 43 per cent married with kids, while 1 per cent were separated or divorced.

Educational qualification: 90 per cent had a bachelor''s or post-graduate degree, while 7 per cent had some college (but not graduate) education and 2 per cent had education up to SSC / HSC. Clearly, online bill payers come from an educated segment of the population.

Occupation: 64 per cent of online bill payers were executives (junior, middle and senior levels),11 per cent were professionals or self-employed, 4 per cent were businessmen/ industrialists, 6 per cent were supervisors/ officers, 3 per cent students, 2 per cent housewives and 1 per cent were shop owners.

Plastic ownership: 87 per cent owned ATM cards, 80 per cent had credit cards and 83 per cent owned debit cards. It''s an audience that is well-versed with payment methods other than cash/cheques.

Online usage: 37 per cent used their credit cards online, 24 per cent used debit cards, while 48 per cent used both.

Regional Representation

Top 5 states:

• 33.4 per cent of online bill payers were from Maharashtra
  
• 20.1 per cent were from Delhi
  
• 9.9 per cent of were from Tamil Nadu
  
• 7.5 per cent from Karnataka
  
• 5.4 per cent from Andhra Pradesh,

Top 10 cities for online bill payments:

• 26.6 per cent Mumbai
  
• 9.8 per cent Delhi
  
• 7.1 per cent Chennai
  
• 6.5 per cent Bangalore and
  
• 3.2 per cent Hyderabad
  
• 3.1 per cent Pune
  
• 2.8 per cent Kolkata
  
• 1.4 per cent Ahmedabad
  
• 1.1 per cent Lucknow
  
• 1 per cent from Indore

27.3 per cent of online bill payers were from other cities, which indicate the growing use of online bill payment outside the Top 10 cities.

Types of online payments

• 73 per cent regularly paid cellular phone bills online
  
• 72 per cent paid telephone bills
  
• 69 per cent paid credit card bills
  
• 58 per cent paid electricity bills
  
• 42 per cent paid insurance premiums
  
• 36 per cent paid Internet access bills
  
• 27 per cent paid for their magazine subscriptions online.

Site options for online bill payments
Consumers use sites of utility companies, banks or third-party aggregators to pay bills online.

• 83 per cent used their bank''s bill payment services
  
• 43 per cent paid on the site of the biller / service provider
  
• 21 per cent relied on a third-party site.

Awareness about online bill payments

• 52 per cent learned of online bill payment services on their own.
  
• 41 per cent came to know about online bill payment through advertisements
  
• 6 per cent heard of it through internet advertisements
  
• 39 per cent came to know about online bill payment through a bank representative
  
• 24 per cent heard of it through a biller email / advertisement
  
• 20 per cent through friends/ peers
  
• 10 per cent through mobile and SMS alerts.

Duration of online payments

• 64 per cent had been paying bills online for more than a year, of which 35 per cent had done it for more than 2 years
  
• 29 per cent had been using it for 13-24 months
  
• 21 per cent for 7-12 months
  
• 14 per cent for 2-6 months
  
• 2 per cent for less than one month.

When do users pay online?

• 51 per cent paid their bills on any day of the week,
  
• 31 per cent preferred weekdays
  
• 18 per cent chose the weekend.
  
• 32 per cent paid bills online between 9 am and 12 noon
  
• 19 per cent opted for the 1 pm to 3 pm slot
  
• 11 per cent paid between 4 pm and 6 pm
  
• 12 per cent paid between 10 pm and 12 midnight
  
• 6 per cent paid between 12 midnight and 8 am.

These numbers show that online transactions are truly 24x7 and that online bill payers are making full use of it.

Internet access

• 71 per cent of online bill payers accessed the internet from home
  
• 77 per cent from office
  
• 32 per cent accessed internet from cyber cafes
  
• 6 per cent from a friend''s place
  
• 16 per cent from the mobile.

Duration of internet usage

• 99 per cent of online bill payers had used the internet for more than 1 year, which means it''s a pedigreed audience that is well-versed in the nuances of the internet.
  
• 58 per cent had been using it for more than 6 years
  
• 36 per cent for 3-5 years
  
• 4 per cent for 1-2 years
  
• 1 per cent for 6-11 months.

Internet usage by hours per week

• 90 per cent of online bill payers used the internet for more than 5 hours a week, demonstrating that the internet is becoming an integral part of everyday activity
  
• 41 per cent used it for more than 20 hours a week and are categorised as heavy users
  
• 25 per cent accessed it for 11-20 hours
  
• 24 per cent for 5-10 hours
  
• 8 per cent for less than 5 hours.

Online bill payment charges

• 31 per cent were being charged for paying bills online, while 69 per cent didn''t pay any fees.
  
• 79 per cent felt that they shouldn''t be charged for online bill payments, 9 per cent were willing to pay, while 12 per cent were non-committal.

Recommendations
98 per cent said they would recommend online bill payment to their colleagues and friends.

Deterrents to Online Payments
The biggest reason for not paying online is concerns about security.

• 41 per cent of respondents indicating that they did not use the services because of these concerns
  
• 35 per cent of respondents preferred to pay bills at payment counters or drop cheques in drop boxes. 27 per cent of netizens did not use online bill payment services as they `didn''t know how to pay bills online'' or due to fear of ''technological failure'' during transactions
  
• 14 per cent didn''t know whether their banks provided online bill payment services, so there''s a case for better communications and marketing
  
• 12 per cent of respondents didn''t know whether their service providers offered online bill payment services.

What would induce internet users to pay bills online?

• 58 per cent of respondents felt that a guarantee that online bill payment services were safe and secure would encourage them to use them
  
• 45 per cent said they would pay their bills online if they got receipts of payments made online
  
• 45 per cent said they would pay bills online if it was free or if the charges were reduced
  
• 34 per cent felt they might use the service if a clear demo of how to use it was provided
  
• 30 per cent wanted an online customer support service
  
• 17 per cent said they would pay bills online if they could access the internet more frequently and freely.

How soon will users start online payments?

• 60 per cent of the respondents said they couldn''t say when they were likely to start paying bills online
  
• 31 per cent said they were likely to start within a year,
  
• 16 per cent indicated that they would do it within a month
  
• 9 per cent said they were likely to start using online bill payment services within 1-3 months
  
• 4 per cent in 4-6 months
  
• 3 per cent in 7-12 months
  
• 3 per cent within 13 months.