Billing organizations are experiencing a surge in mobile visits as consumers use mobile devices for more activities, including payments, according to new research commissioned by Fiserv. 

Visits to biller websites from mobile devices grew 42 percent over the past year and now make up 24 percent of all website visits. During these visits, bill payment is the number one activity, followed by bill views and customer self-service, according to the research.

The Fourth Annual Biller Mobile Bill Pay Benchmark Study was commissioned by Fiserv and conducted by Blueflame Consulting LLC in May 2015. The study leveraged survey and telephone interview data collected from 133 billing organizations of various sizes and from various industries, including utilities, municipalities, insurance and telecom companies, and financial organizations.

Hightlights from the study include: 

• Mobile bill payment is expected to drive growth of e-bill adoption and card-funded payments. Fifty-four percent of billers now offer mobile bill payment to their customers with another 23 percent planning to deploy in the next six to 12 months. This marks an increase of 40 percent in the number of billers currently offering the service, compared to 2014. Forty-two percent of billers believe increased mobile billing and payment use will significantly increase the adoption of paperless e-billing and payments. Increased e-bill adoption can reduce related postage costs.
• Billers are responding to customer demand for mobile options and reminders — Consumers expect billers to provide multiple ways to pay a bill with a mobile device and to accept multiple payment options. Providing a seamless bill pay experience across devices is crucial. The study found that 83 percent of billers say the use of responsive design, which ensures that the presentation of information is suited to the device, is an important priority. Additionally, customers expect billers to be more proactive, with 59 percent expecting reminders such as bill-due alerts. Forty-four percent of billers are now offering bill-due alerts with 16 percent set to deploy in the next six to 12 months.
• Biller concerns shift from technology to security and compliance — Billers are growing more comfortable with the implementation of mobile technology. As this occurs, billers now list their top concerns as ensuring the security of transactions, followed by the cost of mailing paper bills and regulation and compliance requirements, such as PCI compliance, associated with an uptick in card-funded payments.

"Consumers want financial services that fit effortlessly into their lives — mobile offerings provide that compelling convenience," said Jim Lester, SVP of product management for biller solutions at Fiserv. " Mobile bill pay offers the proven ability to draw customers to the mobile platform on a recurring basis, leading to a more engaged and satisfied customer.

"These benefits also bring elevated customer expectations, technology demands, complexity and risk. Billers need to act by implementing a comprehensive MBPP strategy that incorporates simple and easy user experiences, robust security, compliance protocols and payment cost optimization."