Fees could alienate online bill pay users according to Mintel Comperemedia

CHICAGO, Feb. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Online banking continues to grow in popularity, and according to Mintel, 79% of consumers visit their banks' online website on a daily or weekly basis. But it seems that loyalty to online banking would vanish if the service wasn't complimentary, as just less than 80% of consumers would stop using their banks online bill pay services if their financial institutions charged a monthly fee.

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When asked how much they would be willing to pay, just 7% of consumers said that they would continue using online bill pay if they were charged $5.  The number willing to pay $10 for online bill pay services is a mere 5%, while only 2% said they would pay $25 or more per month. The final 7% said they didn't know at what price they would stop using online bill pay services.

"Most consumers would be loathe to pay for an online bill pay service, simply because there are other services that are offered free of charge," says Susan Wolfe, VP of financial services at Mintel Comperemedia.  "So if banks start charging for online bill pay, they run the risk that customers will use another payment mechanism or go to one of the free third party services."

Despite the popularity of online banking, writing checks is still a popular way to pay - 62% of consumers who are responsible for paying their household's recurring bills report that they've paid a bill with a check. Forty-five percent have paid their bills through the biller's website and 42% have paid a bill with a credit card in the past six months. Online bill payment through a bank comes in fourth, at 40%.

"The wide range of payment mechanisms means customers have choices," adds Susan Wolfe. "Getting customers to sign up for online banking is the easy part—getting them to use the full online offering is much more challenging."

For more information about online banking, please join Susan Wolfe for her upcoming webinar, "Online Banking: Where do we go from here?" Thursday, February 24, 2 p.m. CST. Register here: http://tinyurl.com/MC-Online-Banking-Webinar. Or contact the press office ([email protected]) for a copy of the presentation after the webinar has taken place.

About Mintel Comperemedia

Mintel Comperemedia provides competitive intelligence for businesses looking to advance and improve their direct marketing strategy. Tracking direct marketing (including mail, email and print advertising) targeted at consumers, small businesses and insurance agents, Mintel Comperemedia offers a unique perspective on everything from banking trends to insurance trends to credit card statistics. For more than 38 years, Mintel has provided insight into key worldwide trends, leading the industry for consumer, product and media intelligence. Follow Mintel on Twitter: http://twitter.com/mintelnews

SOURCE Mintel International Group Ltd.

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