U.S. billers are falling behind consumers in terms of their readiness for mobile bill presentment and payment, according to a survey by Fiserv.

Fiserv's second annual Biller Mobile Bill Pay Benchmark study examines how billers are keeping pace with the growing demand from consumers for mobile bill presentment and payment, or MBPP, and considers the opportunities and challenges billers face in developing and deploying MBPP services.

For the study, Fiserv commissioned Blueflame Consulting to survey business managers and decision makers at 86 billing organizations across six industries in 2013.

While one in four visits to U.S. biller sites from mobile devices are for bill payments, only 12 percent of billers have a comprehensive MBPP strategy, and only 24 percent have surveyed their customers on their mobile service preferences, the study found.

Lack of IT resources continues to be the top barrier for billers in delivering mobile capabilities, Fiserv said. For example, 64 percent of billers could not say if homepage visits were coming from a mobile device, and almost one-third of billers surveyed didn't know what customers were doing when visiting their site from a mobile device.

However, billers had a better understanding in 2013 than in 2012 of the value of MBPP, the study found. In 2013, 90 percent of billers saw MBPP as a means of improving customer service, a 36 percent increase over 2012, and 65-percent more billers believed MBPP adoption would lead to significant increases in electronic bill presentment and payment.

"Our research indicates explosive growth in mobile bill payments," Robert Craig, Fiserv's senior vice president of biller solutions, said in a statement. By adopting an omnichannel billing and payment strategy with a strong mobile presence, billers can improve customer satisfaction and lower service costs, he said.

A research paper, "The Mobile Bill Payment Surge: What Consumers Are Doing and How Billers Are Responding," can be downloaded at http://www.fiserv.com/resources/mobile-bill-payment-surge-research-paper.htm.