Nearly 6 in 10 Consumers Who Use Mobile Wallets to Pay Bills Face Difficulties

The level of satisfaction among consumers using mobile wallets to pay bills is notably high. However, the system is still far from completely reliable, as more than half of users claim to have experienced issues when paying their bills with these systems. As developers and merchants can address the technical and security challenges associated with mobile wallets, these payment methods will continue to grow.

A PYMNTS Intelligence report done in collaboration with ACI Worldwide, titled “Digital Bill Payments: Frequent Mobile Wallet Bill Pay Users the Most Satisfied,” reveals the benefits and pain points of using mobile wallets.

According to this study, 3 out of 4 U.S. consumers used mobile wallets last year, and 9% say this is their preferred method for paying bills. While the ratio is not very high, it is starting to become significant among millennials, reaching 15%. The ability to make payments anywhere and anytime, as well as the convenience of managing payments in real time, are key factors that attract consumers to mobile wallet bill pay. Additionally, the report reveals that 85% of consumers who use a mobile wallet to pay for more than five different bills are very satisfied with their experience, which reveals that the higher the frequency of use, the greater the satisfaction. The most common invoices paid via mobile wallet include healthcare services, insurance premiums, home utilities and subscription-based services.

Despite the overall satisfaction with mobile wallet bill pay, the report finds that many users still encounter issues when making payments. To be more specific, 58% of users experienced difficulties when paying bills using a mobile wallet in the last year, but this rate increased with the number of bills paid. So, frequent users are more likely to report having had issues, at 71%, compared to sporadic users at 50%.

Security is the most common objection to mobile wallets among those who do not use them, with 35% of consumers citing it as their most important reason for not using mobile wallet bill pay. Additionally, concerns about operational payment issues and perceived inconvenience are mentioned by a significant number of consumers. For many other consumers, however, the benefits of mobile wallet bill pay outweigh the frictions.