M&A activity and tangible transaction growth in the expedited bill payments arena underscore that this dynamic market is primed for continued expansion, according to research from TowerGroup, which estimates that expedited bill payment transactions — which are last-minute, emergency, or collections payments — will total 1.7 billion items per year and represent 10% of key US bill payments by 2010. TowerGroup further estimates that expedited bill payment volume in 2005 will total approximately 554 million transactions.
Though expedited payments initially gained momentum as a collections tool, last-minute convenience or emergency payments by consumers have become the key driver for this market. According to the recent “TowerGroup 2005 Convenience/One-Time Payment Services Survey,” 55% of expedited payments in the US are currently ascribed to this “convenience or emergency payments” category. Fully 72% of expedited bill payments carry associated fees to the consumer, offsetting service charges incurred by billers and providing another powerful business driver for this market.
Two new TowerGroup reports titled, “Expedited Bill Payments: The Basics of Convenience” and “Expedited Bill Payments: The Market for Convenience” by Beth Robertson, senior analyst of the Global Payments research service at TowerGroup, review the functionalities of expedited bill payments as well as detail the size, potential growth and issues surrounding the market. Both reports incorporate findings from the “TowerGroup 2005 Convenience/One-Time Payment Services Survey,” which polled leading US providers of expedited bill payments services. Kate Monahan of TowerGroup served as a contributor to both reports.