There’s a new bill-paying app that’s launched to help consumers pay bills with their plastic, without needing the plastic present.
That’s the concept behind Plastiq, the new iPhone app that enables users to simply take a photo of a bill in order to pay it. Once that image is captured, the app allows consumers to choose their preloaded card to make a payment and allows them to select how much they want to pay and when.
For regular bills that occur at the same time every month, Plastiq can also send users notifications about when their bills are paid. The app can also step in and act as a payment method for companies that normally do not accept card payments and pay on behalf of the app user. Plastiq charges a 1–2.5 percent service fee.
According to a recent survey from the company, a majority of consumers are still paying their bills via checks; 79 percent of them would prefer to use cards when available.
“No one likes paying bills. People forget to pay them on time, and last year, Americans still sent tens of billions of checks in the mail,” said Eliot Buchanan, Plastiq’s CEO. “This is because, for many industries, accepting credit cards just doesn’t make business sense. We bridge the gap, letting anyone pay any bill, with any card, regardless of card acceptance.”
