Latest research shows desire for e-billing is strong

26th May 2005 – Over half (52%) of people with internet banking capability in the UK already view and pay some of their bills online according to market research undertaken on behalf of OneVu, the UK's first consolidated electronic bill presentment and payment service which lets people see, track and pay all their bills from the familiar, secure environment of their online bank.

In addition, 58% of online bankers stated that they would be likely to view and pay bills online in the future, if they could do so from one consolidated site. Convenience (45%) and ease (30%) are the two main reasons cited by consumers as why they are in favour of using consolidated online billing.

Martin Kearsley, Chief Executive at OneVu, comments: "There are now over 14 million people regularly banking online and by 2008 it is predicted that this figure will rise to 25 million. With this comes an increasing desire from consumers to do more online and this research shows that consolidated e-billing is a service that consumers want now."

Whilst the majority of online banking consumers still receive their bills by post (94%), the demand for e-billing is strong and there is an overwhelming consumer preference for the service to be available through their existing bank website. Overall, two thirds of respondents who would like to use a consolidated e-billing service stated that they would prefer to access a consolidated site to view and pay their bills as part of an existing online bank account. And despite recent media coverage of phishing scams and loopholes in certain providers' sites, overall confidence in online banking is up compared with three years ago.

"Ninety three per cent of online bankers questioned in our survey agreed that they would not give out their user name or password. Unlike an aggregated approach the OneVu solution does not ask for or hold any passwords as the consumer is accessing their bills through the secure environment of their online bank," comments Martin Kearsley.

For people who bank online, there is a clear desire for bills to be presented at a consolidated secure site, with 32% stating this as a preference, but significantly more than the 3% who would prefer to visit multiple billers' websites separately.

The quantitative research was undertaken in 2005 by the international market research agency, TNS. Three hundred and forty one interviews were conducted at home with people who bank online and were representative of the UK adult population. Research was conducted to establish levels of demand and identify key drivers of using consolidated online bill payment and is similar to research commissioned in 2003 by OneVu.

Editor's note:

• OneVu is the UK’s first consolidated electronic bill presentment and payment service which lets people see, track and pay all their bills from the familiar, secure environment of their online bank.
• Using proven technology, the OneVu solution has been designed to encourage discussion with, and incorporate input from, the banking and billing communities. Invisible to online consumers who will only see their recognised billers’ and bankers’ brands, the OneVu solution encourages participation from the widest range of partners.
• OneVu is a joint venture between Voca (formerly BACS Ltd), which processes over 4 billion financial transactions each year, and CheckFree Corporation (NASDAQ: CKFR), a global leader in financial electronic commerce services.

For further information please contact:

Lizzie Woolley, The Weston Partnership,
Tel: 020 8671 9031
07881 923 530
Lizzie@westonpartnership.co.uk