Australian Households Show a Preference to Shift Away From More Expensive Payment Channels to Cheaper Options, Such As Direct Debit, Even Without an Incentive.

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c44631) has announced the addition of Billing and Payment Preferences in Australian Residential Supply to their offering.

With utilities focused on reducing cost-to-serve, opportunities exist within the billing and payment operations to reduce costs in line with customer preferences, thus securing both a lower cost-to-serve and improved customer satisfaction. This brief draws on results from a survey of over 2000 Australian households to highlight customers predilections for lower-cost billing and payment options.

Scope of this title:

- A survey of over 2000 households across Australia regarding behaviours and preferences relating to bill presentment and payment.

- Analysis of preferences and behaviours overall and broken down by electricity spend

Highlights of this title:

Australian households show a preference to shift away from more expensive payment channels to cheaper options, such as Direct Debit, even without an incentive.

If incentivising a switch to Direct Debit, the most popular inducement of those suggested was a 2% discount on each bill.

There is significant interest in options such as bill smoothing and combined electricity and gas bills.

Reasons to order your copy:

- Identify ways in which to incentivise customers to choose lower-cost payment methods.

- Understand the differences in preferences by electricity spend.

- Assess the opportunity for smooth billing and combined gas and electricity billing and electronic billing.

Content Outline:

CATALYST

SUMMARY

METHODOLOGY

Introduction

Billing, payment and late payment account for approximately 40% of the residential cost-to-serve

ANALYSIS

How customers currently pay their bills and why they choose such methods

How customers would prefer to pay their bills

Incentivising customers to pay by Direct Debit

Frequency of bill payment

Interest in particular billing and payment options

Bill smoothing

Combined gas and electricity bill

Paper versus electronic billing

SUMMARY

Key findings

APPENDIX

Further reading

Ask the analyst

Customer support

List of Tables

Table 1: How Australians currently pay their electricity and gas bills

Table 2: Why consumers choose to pay by that method

Table 3: Current vs. preferred methods of payment

Table 4: Would you still pay by credit card if you were required to pay the 1% merchant fee?

Table 5: Attractiveness of incentives for switching to Direct Debit

Table 6: Attractiveness of incentives for switching to Direct Debit

by electricity spend per annum*

Table 7: How interested are you in bill smoothing?

Table 8: How interested are you in bill smoothing? by electricity spend per annum

Table 9: How interested are you in receiving a combined gas and electricity bill?

Table 10: Preferred billing options: paper vs. electronic

Table 11: Preferred billing options: paper vs. electronic by electricity expenditure spend

List of Figures

Figure 1: How Australians currently pay their electricity and gas bills

Figure 2: Attractiveness of incentives for switching to Direct Debit

Figure 3: Attractiveness of incentives for switching to Direct Debit electricity spend per annum

Figure 4: What is the preferred frequency for paying an electricity or gas bill?

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c44631

Source: Datamonitor