ACI: 2021 Was the Year of Diversity

Variety is the spice of life and ACI Executive Vice President, Biller Segment Sanjay Gupta says it is diversity that best describes 2021. Read his thoughts in the PYMNTS eBook, “In a Word: 50 Thought Leaders Sum Up 2021.”

If you look up the word “diversity” in the dictionary, it is defined as “the condition of having or being composed of differing elements: VARIETY.” In reflecting on billing and payments in 2021, the theme of differing elements plays out in many facets and captures the spirit of a year marked by variety. 

Diversity in Payment Choices

Consumers want to pay for goods and services when they want, in the channels they want and with the payment options they want. Whether it’s paying taxes, utilities bills, car loans, insurance bills or other bills, consumers expect options in the channels and with the methods they want to engage. 

Consumers continue to ask for alternative payment methods (APMs) like Apple Pay, Google Pay, Zelle and other mobile wallet options, whether they are buying from a merchant, paying their bills or paying back friends/family for things like shared expenses. In addition, cryptocurrencies gained popularity in 2021 as consumers looked for ways to use these financial assets to pay for and fund daily lifestyle activities and living expenses. 

Diversity in Paying out Consumers

While choice is important in making payments to billers, consumers equally seek options when it comes to receiving money from their biller. This past year, we saw a rise in the demand for digital disbursements to consumers for things like insurance claim payouts, consumer loans, mortgages, governments or higher education overage payments and refunds, as well as rebates from utilities. Preferred payment options include everything from ACH, push to debit and APMs to cash.

Diversity in the Speed of Inbound and Outbound Payments

Timeliness of payment impacts everything from late fees to receiving emergency insurance claim payments.

ACI’s research tells us that one in four (25.4%) consumers made an urgent or same-day payment in 2021, up from 20% last year. Offering choice when it comes to real-time digital payment and disbursement options can make the difference when it comes to customer satisfaction. In fact, our data tells us that 31% of consumers would consider changing their payment channel or method if it meant the payment would process faster, an increase from 2020 (26%).

Diversity in Communicating With Billers

Consumers want to know they can reach their billers anytime they have a question related to their billing and payments and desire varying ways to engage. While some may want to speak to a representative, many seek digital and automated ways to connect, like text, email, interactive voice response (IVR) or a virtual agent. 

Diversity in the Consumers We Serve

ACI research delineates many generational preferences when it comes to paying bills. For example, 55% of Gen Z and millennials are interested in paying bills with alternative payment methods, while only 15% of boomers would consider paying with a mobile wallet.

As the billing and payments industry enters 2022, I expect we’ll continue to see demand for more choice and variety from the consumers we all serve. The speed and diversity of responsiveness to these demands from billers could make or break their success.