Can One-Stop Solutions Ease Execs’ Bill Payments Pain?

Recurring inefficiencies that impact both individual bill-payers and companies’ billing and collections teams are weighing heavily on billing executives’ sentiment. PYMNTS’ research finds that 30% of billing and collections executives are only somewhat satisfied with their organizations’ current bill payments ecosystem, and 68% expect their firms to incorporate innovations such as one-stop-shop solutions within the next 12 months.

In “The One-Stop Bill Pay Playbook: Executive Views On Third-Party Bill Payment Solutions,” a PYMNTS and Mastercard collaboration, we surveyed a panel of 400 billing and collections executives to understand the state of play for the bill payments space. We examined shortcomings in the payment process for consumers, identified several billing process pain points that organizations most often encounter, and gauged firms’ interest in third-party digital portals for paying bills.

Despite advances in digital solutions, many bill payment executives are only somewhat satisfied with how their companies handle billing.

Thirty percent of bill payment executives are only somewhat satisfied with the bill payment ecosystems of their organizations. Firms with annual revenues of less than $100 million are disproportionately represented in this cohort, with 44% expressing only moderate satisfaction. This is nearly three times the share of those with more than $500 million in annual revenue who report being only somewhat satisfied.

Sixty percent of the most frequent complaints from consumers are about a lack of payment options and friction in the payment process.

PYMNTS found that the top recurring complaint is a lack of payment options (33%), closely followed by 29% citing confusing or missing interface features. On average, 41% of companies with less than $10 million in annual revenue identify a lack of payment options as the top recurring complaint from bill-payers, compared to 25% of companies with more than $500 million in revenue.

Executives identify several billing process pain points that their companies frequently face.

Manual reconciliation is the top pain point related to customers paying their bills, cited by 36% of bill payment executives. We also found that healthcare providers are most likely to cite difficulties processing manual reconciliations (58%). Other frequently cited pain points included invalid credit or debit card credentials (33%) and confused customers contacting customer service (32%).

“The One-Stop Bill Pay Playbook: Executive Views On Third-Party Bill Payment Solutions,” a PYMNTS and Mastercard collaboration, examines shortcomings in the payment process for consumers, identifies several billing process pain points that organizations most often encounter, and gauges firms’ interest in third-party digital portals for paying bills.

To learn more about the state of play for the bill payments space, download the report.