Page 22 - index
P. 22
to pay and receive their bills through their the system of bill payment while funneling
mobile device of choice only seals the deal for customers directly to apps that they control.
many customers. The only problem with this option is that since
the app has to be provided to every existing
Mobile fexibility. platform, there will be more maintenance cost.
Outbound messaging is an essential
Customers like options, and that also includes
component of any mobile bill pay solution.
mobile bill payments. Simply put, options
Because some customers rely on having the
are no longer optional for your customer. In
physical bill to remind them to pay, it can be
fact, they’re considered as essential and non-
hard to get some customers to come over to
negotiable.
paperless pay. One of the ways to incentivize
Companies should encourage and provide a this switch is to provide message reminders
variety of different payment options for their through outbound messaging. This can be
customers. Doing this will help the bottom line, done through phone, text, and email to provide
provide necessary options for your customers, even more convenience for them and assurance
and will even increase the adoption rate of these for you that the bill will be paid on time.
mobile options by bringing in new customers
who are drawn in by these features. Demographics.
One of the new options is the pay-by-text You won’t reach your key demographic
feature. Since so many adults are texting, this without favoring a mobile strategy period. For
is the logical way of offering payment. It’s the instance, a majority of Hispanic millennials are
fastest and easiest way to pay and it makes the more likely to be mobile only when compared
process of paying that much easier. It’s also to non-Hispanic whites.
more convenient for billers, and it’s cheaper
per transaction as we said before. Mobile-frst users are simply the norm as of
right now. They’re not taking the time to start
For pay by email, this is another fast and up their computer, log on, and surf the internet
effcient way to pay your bills. By using a simple like they used to. Now it’s all about a mobile
“push” email system, your customers can skip frst strategy that takes advantage of the latest
the paper route and just pay through their changes and challenges in mobile technology.
mobile device. The way you do this is send an
interactive PDF statement and then wait for the The best way to attract new customers is to
customer to make a payment through this fast, keep them in mind. You’re trying to bring in
easy, and super convenient method. This is customers who otherwise wouldn’t use a mobile
another effcient way to go paperless as well. device. In focusing on these newcomers, you’re
structuring your strategy and setting yourself
Mobile web bill-pay sites are responsive up for new potential customers. Any way you
mobile websites that are increasingly becoming look at it, it’s a win for everyone involved.
standard and preferred when it comes to
mobile options. No matter what device your It’s becoming more and more of a mobile
customers are using to pay their bill, your sites world every day that passes. When you have
are going to be rendering in a consistent way customers navigating with their fngerprint to
no matter what size screen your customers bank apps that have no physical location, it’s
have gone with. No longer will your customers easy to see just how sophisticated mobile apps
have to zoom and scroll around an unwieldy have become.
site that was meant for desktop computers.
They’ll instead have an intuitive, easy-to-use While this list isn’t exhaustive, it should give
site that flls their needs. you a good idea as to how infuential a mobile
approach has been and will continue to be
For downloadable mobile apps, responsive into the future. As we go into 2017, we’ll be
websites are increasingly becoming more seeing more and more applications of mobile
and more common, but some municipalities only technology, especially as customers
and companies are instead providing apps increasingly turn mobile-frst or even mobile
through Google Play and iTunes in order to only. Time will tell, but we can already see just
add a measure of convenience and streamline how infuential mobile has been.
22 PAYOUTMAGAZINE Sponsored by