A biller survey suggests the credit and debit card share of biller direct payments will grow from 14% in 2004 to 17% in 2005. Meanwhile, the share of biller direct payments processed by the Automated Clearinghouse (ACH) will decline from 85% in 2004 to 82% in 2005.

Boston, MA, October 14 – In a new report, Bill Payments: A Biller Survey, Aite Group scrutinizes the results of a survey it conducted among a panel of major U.S. billers. The report provides an overview of the EBPP level of adoption, billers' goals and results, and technology trends. Among other elements, the survey reveals that billers tend to be satisfied with the current level of adoption of EBPP. However, there is a gap between the goals billers have set and their current level of success, particularly in terms of paper and postage savings, call center deflection, and customer satisfaction and retention.

"The gap between goals and results suggests that there is an opportunity for payment processors and software vendors to improve on the capabilities of both the biller direct and consolidator services," notes Gwenn Bézard, a research director with Aite Group and co-author of the report. "There is still room for competition on features, functionalities, and other services."

The survey also confirms that the credit and debit card share of biller direct payments is on the rise. "Sooner or later, the consolidator model will need to face that reality and adopt cards if it can't beat them," adds Bézard.

Among other findings, the survey shows there are still a number of major billers that do not support online bill payment via bank Web sites, not to mention bill presentment through bank Web sites. The report notes that this represents a weak point in the incumbent processors' defense (CheckFree, Metavante, Princeton eCom) as new entrants start banging at the door (e.g., Fiserv).

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