How Mobile Can Open the Door to $2.1 Trillion in Bill Payments

Paying bills is an inescapable necessity for consumers, with $2.1 trillion in payments annually for just seven common types of bills in 2013, according to Javelin estimates. The mobile bill-payment industry is in its infancy — accounting for $36 billion for those seven bills. But the first wave of consumers already is typically pulling out a smartphone or tablet to pay, and mobile bill payments are primed for rapid growth. This report, which drills into mobile bill payment to follow up Javelin’s “2013 Online Banking and Bill-Payment Forecast” in September:

• Provides an overview of dollars flowing through the bill-payment market; breaks down online, mobile, and offline bill-payment volume; and identifies banks with market-leading adoption.
• Spotlights 140 million Americans who will lead adoption of mobile bill payments: Moneyhawks™, Digital Drifters, Online Banking Loyalists, and underbanked consumers.
• Analyzes how to tailor mobile bill payment to cater to each segment’s unique expectations.
• Evaluates how each segment perceives the strengths of banks and credit unions, billers, and third-party providers to deliver 11 demands relating to security, control, and practicality.

Primary Questions:

• How much do Americans currently spend for seven common bills, and how much of that volume is conducted on mobile devices?
• What is the return on investment from mobile bill payments, and what types of financial players stand to gain?
• What benefits must mobile bill-payment providers deliver in order to spur consumers to change habits and switch away from paying bills online, by mail, in person, or over the phone?
• Who do Americans think can best deliver a better way to pay bills: financial institutions, billers, or third-party providers?
• Why are the 140 million Moneyhawks, Digital Drifters, Online Banking Loyalists, and underbanked consumers likely to lead adoption of mobile bill payments?
• What do Moneyhawks, Digital Drifters, Online Banking Loyalists, and underbanked consumers want most when paying bills? How do they perceive the relative strengths and weaknesses of mobile bill payments from FIs, billers, and third-party providers?

• The consumer data in this report is based primarily on information collected online from 5,641 consumers in March 2013.