Electronic payment and banking solutions provider ACI Worldwide pointed out that recent research from Mercator Advisory Group showed 62 percent of consumers demand faster bill pay services than the Automated Clearing House (ACH) plans to deliver.

In light of that trend and how many finance companies leverage the ACH platform to collect monthly payments, ACI Worldwide product marketing manager Phil Spradlin insisted firms should prepare to upgrade bill payment services with real-time money movement or prepare to disappoint consumers. Here are the three reasons why Spradlin came to that assertion:

Too Slow

Most ACH bill payments do not update consumers’ bank accounts until the next day. Spradlin indicated NACHA —The Electronic Payments Association — governs the ACH network, and it plans to speed up money movement. But Spradlin contends NACHA’s plans still will fall short of most consumers’ expectations because mobile banking just became the most popular method of banking.

“Now consumers expect real-time updates to their checking account balances right after they pay your bills,” Spradlin said in a blog post on ACI Worldwide’s website.

Debit Cards Are More Convenient

With fewer people carrying their check books, Spradlin noted consumers prefer debit cards to ACH by a count of 3 to 1, according to Mercator Advisory Group.

Funds Are Not Guaranteed

When finance companies receive an ACH bill payment, Spradlin reminded managers that it is not until a later date that they know for sure if they will actually receive the funds.

“No, 2015 will not be the end of ACH bill pay services,” Spradlin said. “The work to re-engineer electronic billing and payment solutions to support real-time money movement, while well underway, will likely not conclude in 2015.

“But this tidal wave of real-time money movement will soon be here,” he added.

With that wave apparently building, Spradlin touched on a trio of steps finance companies can take to aid their customer service and payment collection efforts.

The ACI Worldwide manager began with preparing to connect directly to consumers’ banks to enable real-time money movement. Spradlin indicated the ACH network will be replaced by organizations of all types (consumer finance, higher education, insurance, etc.) connecting their electronic billing and payment solutions directly to the banks that consumers pay them from.

Spradlin also recommended that companies move paper-based auto-debit payments to a mobile and Web-based electronic billing and payment solution.

“Consumers expect self-service options to update their account numbers, payment dates and view their bills electronically,” he said. “This upgrade will prevent consumers from having to call you to make updates — saving them time and you money.”

Furthermore, Spradlin suggested that finance companies update billing accounts in real-time. For example, when a consumer pays their monthly vehicle installment contract payment, they expect the finance company to update its “amount due” listing immediately or at least within 1 hour or sooner, according to Mercator.

ACI Worldwide Drives 30-Percent Increase in Customer Engagement

ACI Worldwide highlighted new and advanced capabilities within its bill payment platform, UP Bill Payment Solutions, can elevate customer engagement by 30 percent. To spark revenue growth and cost reduction, UP Bill Payment Solutions now feature videos and actionable offers embedded in electronic bills (eBills).

The company shared how the platform generated success in the government sector.

“As one of the first organizations to offer the next wave of bill payment technologies, we are driving profitable customer relationships,” said Andrew Cree, eBill strategy lead for Chatham County in Georgia. “Our newly launched eBill has changed the behavior of our citizens, who can now act on interactive messages embedded in their bill.”

With the latest UP Bill Payment Solutions, which are part of ACI’s Universal Payments (UP) portfolio of solutions, ACI Worldwide explained that finance companies and other organizations can realize:

— Decreased costs of document delivery by up to 50 percent through replacing paper with electronic documents

— Reduced customer service calls by up to 10 percent by answering customer questions with videos and links to billing FAQs

— Deeper customer loyalty by promoting new services and programs on the eBill

— Higher consumer adoption resulting from a shared success model where ACI deploys consumer marketing programs on clients’ behalf

— Greater convenience via omni-channel access to bills (via mobile, web, email, call center, mail)

“Embedding new features like video and actionable offers into eBills improves the overall customer experience,” said Ron Shevlin, senior analyst at the Aite Group. “Increasing customer engagement while decreasing associated customer service and billing costs, not to mention paper bill usage, can transform an organization’s customer service operations into a value center.”

ACI Worldwide vice president and product line manager Scott Fitzgerald added, “The eBill provides a tremendous opportunity for new revenue generation and customer engagement.

“As consumers review their bills, they consider the value of the services they receive, making it an optimal time to promote additional offerings or other useful messages,” Fitzgerald continued. “And when consumers accept offers in the eBill, it’s imperative to have integrated payment capabilities to immediately complete the sale.”