The Point

Make it easy, make it simple. That’s the expectation of every consumer making a bill payment online. Yet, even the largest banks and credit unions can make simple missteps that add needless frustration to the bill pay experience and drive down customer satisfaction and adoption. Is your financial institution making any of these missteps?

Misstep One: The Button

It’s time to make a loan payment, I'm on a financial institution's website and I’ve got my checkbook or debit card out. But where is the "make a loan payment" button? Nowhere.

I just want to pay my car loan!

This shouldn't be so difficult. In the rush to provide an appealing website, complete with eye-catching images and sophisticated ads, don’t miss the payment button. If customers can’t find it easily, you’ll frustrate them, drive down adoption of digital payments and increase the number of paper checks you process.

Misstep Two: We Don't Offer That

Intrigued by a fancy splash page outlining the great value propositions of my bank's latest product, I decided to use the online chat box to learn more. As I began to ask the agent questions, I was told, "I’m sorry we don’t offer anything like that." I replied, "Yes you do. I’m looking at it on your website." Frustrated, I finally called the bank and was greeted by a very knowledgeable customer service representative who answered all of my questions.

Don’t make your customers chase down the one person who might know what you offer. Customers come to your financial institution from a variety of channels and it's imperative your frontline staff know the ins and outs of your website and the products and solutions you offer. Otherwise, your customers may simply go elsewhere.

Misstep Three: Why Am I Still Receiving a Paper Bill?

Being able to view and pay my bills on the go is exactly what I need, so I happily enrolled in my bank's new mobile banking service. In the fine print, there was some verbiage about e-statements and saving the planet by going paperless. I clicked on the Enroll button and assumed I was all set. But several weeks later, I received a paper statement from my bank. What happened to e-statements and saving trees?

By reading the fine print in the terms and conditions I discovered an opt-in button buried in the lowest corner of my screen. I’d missed it and as a result was still on the paper list – causing unnecessary expense for my bank and annoyance for me.

Live and Learn

Every biller and financial institution can learn from these three common biller missteps. Consider your customer as you roll out a new solution, change your website and train your frontline staff. Is your bill pay experience easy? Does it fit seamlessly into your customers' lives? With so many nonfinancial institutions trying to entice your customers, it's more important than ever to make sure every experience with your financial institution is a good one.