In an Uncertain Economy Consumers are Taking Advantage of Online Financial Transaction Tools to More Carefully Manage Their Money

SANTA CLARA, Calif., Dec 08, 2008 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- In an effort to retain some financial control in uncertain economic times, consumers are using tools to stay on top of bill payments. Billeo, Inc., the company that gives consumers unprecedented choice, control and convenience when paying bills online, conducted a 2008 customer behavior study focusing on online bill payment trends. The results show that consumers are utilizing free online tools to track, manage and organize their transactions. Three quarters of those who pay bills and shop online save electronic receipts of their transactions and identified ease of "tracking online purchases and payments" as a top motivator.

"The most important thing we glean from this study is that a growing number of consumers are not only more comfortable doing a variety of transactions online, but they prefer it," said Murali Subbarao, founder & CEO of Billeo, Inc. "We believe that the new economic situation will make them more savvy about how and when they spend their money and how they manage and store their online shopping and bill payment information. In uncertain times, they have the ability to exercise more control over how and when they pay bills, as well as how they track and evaluate expenses. To stay in control, consumers simply need to have some very basic online tools."

Billeo's survey revealed that more than half of people who transact online never pay late fees. The study found that more than 31 percent of those who transact online are baby boomers, and more than 58 percent are over the age of 45. The study also showed that more than 56 percent of those who transact online have attended college with more than half acquiring a graduate degree. In terms of credit cards, 90 percent have credit cards and 47 percent carry no debt on their cards.

"Currently, more than two-thirds of online consumers pay at least one of their monthly bills with a credit or debit card. As the growth rate for non-card based online bill payment slows, Aite Group believes that banks will find their highest rate of growth in online bill pay from card-based payers," said Ron Shevlin, Senior Analyst for Aite Group. "There is an opportunity for banks and billers to acquire an attractive set of consumers - consumers that are relatively affluent, are a low credit risk and actively engaged and loyal to the firms with which they do business."

In other research, Billeo found that credit card bills are the most popular bill paid online by consumers in terms of number of bills paid. Other categories in order of number of bills paid online were: Utilities, Telephone, Cable/Satellite Television, Wireless, and Insurance. In terms of average transaction amount, credit card bills were the highest with $602 per bill. Other categories in order of transaction amount include: Insurance (with $319), Utilities (with $217), Cable/Satellite Television (with $162), Wireless (with $159) and Telephone (with $143).

Splendid Search, a tool developed by Billeo to automatically save and categorize electronic copies of bill payment and shopping receipts, is available now to consumers. Splendid Search allows the search of financial transaction records by the retail store or company name, amount paid, credit card used, or even by date. Whether you want to save all of the records around the online booking of an airline ticket, hotel or car, are looking at all online transactions for a month, want to print a receipt for a rebate or in-store return, or want to file a warranty claim, Billeo automatically saves the full receipt, categorizes it and allows you to locate the right record in seconds. It takes all the work, frustration and clutter out of paying bills and shopping online.

Source: Press Release