ACI Worldwide has released its ACI Speedpay Pulse report, research that delves into consumer billing, payment trends, and payment experiences across different generations. According to the report, 35% of consumers express readiness to switch their bill payment method to achieve faster processing.

This shift in consumer behaviour can be attributed to the fear of being penalised for late payments among the growing number of people making urgent or same-day bill payments. Furthermore, the research finds that financial concerns are prevalent among younger consumers, with 80% of Gen Z consumers having bill-pay anxiety, while 63% of Gen Z say they find bill payment experience stressful. Billers could potentially alleviate these worries by introducing faster ways to pay, allowing consumers to make payments at a time that is convenient for them and helping to reduce delinquencies. About one in five Boomers are still writing checks, despite the risk of loss, theft, and delay. On the other hand, mobile wallets are gaining traction, with nearly half of the consumers surveyed stating their interest in paying bills with their mobile wallets.

As per the study, this also includes 24% of Boomers who are happy to consider switching to a mobile wallet. Billers have a unique opportunity to capture these consumers by launching incentivised enrolment campaigns, encouraging them to add their bills as passes in their digital wallets. The ACI Speedpay Pulse report shows that 32% of consumers still write down their passwords on paper, while 16% persist in using the same or similar passwords across multiple platforms. About one-quarter of the consumers never change their password or do so only when prompted by billers.

To mitigate the financial and reputational risks associated with fraud and identity theft, it is important for billers to actively educate customers on enhanced security measures and build robust fraud strategies incorporating technology, such as AI and machine learning to combat the growing sophistication in fraudulent behaviours. More about the company Based in the US, ACI Worldwide is a global payments software providing software solutions that enable corporations, fintechs, and financial disruptors to process and manage digital payments, power omni-commerce payments, present and process bill payments, as well as manage fraud and risk. The ACI Speedpay Pulse is a longitudinal consumer billing and payment trends research study conducted by ACI Worldwide.

Each ACI Speedpay Pulse data set includes responses from a survey of at least 3,000 unique respondents. Each survey sample is the US Census-balanced among adults aged 18 and older who are responsible for submitting payments for at least two of their household's monthly bills. .