Statistics Show Growth in Consumer Comfort With Banking Online; Milestones Reflect Evolution of How Customers Use Online Banking
Tuesday March 25, 12:30 pm ET
CHARLOTTE, N.C., March 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Consumers are becoming more comfortable with banking online, a trend that has become apparent through statistical milestones reached this month, Bank of America (NYSE: BAC - News) announced today.
Five million people now use online banking at Bank of America. A year ago, 3.1 million people used the service.
Two million people now pay their bills online through Bank of America, compared to 900,000 a year ago.
Customers now receive one million "e-bills," or electronic versions of paper bills, during a month at bankofamerica.com. A year ago, nearly 300,000 e-bills were delivered.
"We've found that customers go through an evolution in their online banking experiences," said Sanjay Gupta, e-Commerce executive. "First, they go online to look at their statements and transactions. Then they start paying their bills online. Now we're seeing that customers want to receive their bills online, too."
Bank of America has the most active online banking subscribers in the industry and has seen the most growth in the past year. The number of online bill pay customers has more than doubled since last May, when the bank announced it would offer the service free. About one-third of the bank's consumer deposit customers actively use Online Banking.
What are e-bills?
Now that customers are more comfortable than ever with banking online, they want to receive their bills electronically as well, Gupta said.
"E-bills" are electronic versions of paper bills. More than 225 companies can send e-bills directly to a customer's Bank of America Online Banking service.
Bank of America statistics show that the most popular electronic bills come from credit card companies, followed by utilities. For example, more than 80,000 customers of phone company SBC receive bills electronically through Bank of America.
E-bills often include account balances, transactions, finance charges and other statement information, although each company offers unique features.
A major benefit for customers is the ability to receive and pay bills in one place, rather than going to different Web sites to pay each bill. "Customers like the ease and simplicity of receiving their bills through e- mail, logging on to view their bills and paying them with just a few clicks," Gupta said.
The incoming e-bills should not be confused with customers' outbound bill payments. In all, Bank of America processes more than 10 million online bill payments a month through Online Banking. Bank of America provides online bill payment services through CheckFree Corporation (Nasdaq: CKFR - News). CheckFree provides electronic commerce services and products and distributes e-bills to bankofamerica.com on behalf of hundreds of billing organizations.
Consumers can sign up for Online Banking, Bill Pay and e-bills at www.bankofamerica.com. Bank of America does not charge customers for Online Banking or e-bills. . .
biz.yahoo.com |
