The Bill Payment Experience of the Future

The Jetsons, a popular animated situation comedy produced in the 1960’s and later in syndication with new episodes in the 1980’s, was created on the premise of what life would be like in the future. In the last fifty years technology has drastically impacted our lives but we are not yet living in space or driving in automobiles that fly which was the daily experience of the Jetsons.

Although there has been a change in the way we pay our bills, communicate with friends or even shop for merchandise, consumers adopting these options vary by regions across the globe. However, in the U.S. market from the introduction of paying our bills from our computer, mobile phone or some other device, changes to improve this process is slow. Whether we choose to pay a bill directly from the biller’s web site or through a bank, it is still a batch process but quicker than mailing a check.

Regardless of the channel for the digital delivery of the remittance the expectation is that the payment will be posted in a 24 or 78 hour window, depending on the channel. For some, the expectation is to disrupt this process in order to reduce the window from hours to real time. The industry has made some efforts to reduce the number of paper remittances through the development of Biller Directories, that include the biller’s name their account masks along with all the information required for the digital delivery of the payment.

However, the owners of these Biller Directories, MasterCard RPPS, Fiserv and NACHA/The Clearinghouse, do not collaborate in order to improve the consumer experience for the reduction of payment remittances. However, are Biller Directories the key to increasing consumer digital payments in the future? As the industry moves to real time payments, using this infrastructure for bill payments would be expected.

Here is a scenario for the future, I am ready to pay my bill on the day it is due, I can make the payment and it is posted when the payment is delivered. I can use any channel such as my mobile phone, computer, tablet etc. In addition, I can access my bills for payment via their website or via a hyperlink from my social media web site and I can access my bills to pay using several different funding methods stored via my preference. The “wish list” continues to grow.

However, in order for us to realize change, small steps are needed. Check out the article, The Bill Payment Experience of the Future, http://www.alacriti.com/bill-payment-in-the-future