PHOENIX -

BillingTree highlighted four main observations from its Consumer Finance Business Strategy and Technology Survey 2015; a project geared to try to understand the usage of payment technology solutions and the priorities of decision-making consumer lending professionals as well as to establish a benchmark to examine year-over-year trends as the industry navigates a shifting business and regulatory environment.

BillingTree commissioned the study, which was conducted by SourceMedia Research in August drawing on American Banker’s audience of financial services decision makers. According to the subsequent report, titled “Consumer Finance Business Strategy and Technology Survey 2015,” officials noted key observations and findings included:

1. Paper checks represent 41 percent of all U.S. loan payments, and when combined with cash payments (11 percent), more than half of all loans are paid non-electronically by consumers.

2. Fraud mitigation, data security and compliance were cited as the factors most critical to business growth by lenders.

3. E-mail is the primary communication method deployed by lenders for post loan communications followed closely by paper mail.

4. In addition, the report breaks out findings by financial institution size and offers more granular information including technology utilization, payment acceptance, communications and more.

In addition, BillingTree also re-established its Payment and Technology Spotlight webinar series, focused on informing and sharing best practice advice with financial industry professionals. The next webinar will be conducted Nov. 4 at 2 p.m. ET and will review the survey results in greater detail.

Registration for the complimentary webinar, which includes a copy of the survey results, is now open here.

“Last year's spotlight series saw record attendance, with hundreds of industry professionals attending our sessions. This should continue to rise this year, as more decision makers explore the bottom line and compliance benefits of incorporating payment technology into their business strategy,” BillingTree head of marketing Dave Yohe said.

“A growing awareness is reflected in the responses from our recent survey of lending institutions, where compliance and security ranked as top-of-mind concerns for industry professionals, with the use of payment technology continuing to close the gap on more traditional payment channels,” Yohe continued.

“This first interactive webinar in the spotlight series gives us a chance to take a deeper dive into the results and benchmark these against the concerns of attendees,” he went on to say.