British online bankers want to save cash, not the environment

Organizations can save money by steering their consumers away from paper-based transactions and notifications, and consumers know this, which is why they want cash to make the switch, according to a poll for electronic bill presentment and payment firm OneVu.

by Helen Leggatt

When Research Now polled over 1,000 online bankers in the U.K., in particular those responsible for paying household and personal bills, as to the most likely reason for using an online billing service, almost a third (31%) cited discounts or incentives.

So, rather than saving the environment by decreasing the number of trees being mailed each year, consumers want cash. Even the offer of increased security and decreased exposure to the risk of identify fraud only attracted 17% to online bill payments.

"What is interesting is that consumers are increasingly savvy and they understand that organizations can make considerable savings by eliminating paper bills," said Miles Quitmann, CEO, OneVu. "The research suggests that they feel some of these savings should be passed on to them rather than just the shareholders."

The most popular reason given for moving bill payments online was the convenience of having everything in one place, cited by 46% of those polled.

Tags: cash, discounts, electronic bill payment, environment, incentives, online banking