Why Offering 24/7 Payments By Phone Matters
By Barnard Crespi
Today’, consumers expect to be able to purchase goods and services when it is convenient for them, and on their terms. As a result more and more businesses are adapting to these expectations and offering around-the-clock customer service, or, (at the very least) are remaining open for extended business hours. Industry leaders are adapting to customer expectations and doing everything in their power to engage customers when and where they are ready.
Customers expect these same choices, flexibility and convenience when it comes to paying bills. For businesses, the timely collection of bill payments is of equal importance as delivering the service. The longer a bill remains unpaid, the higher the cost of collection to the organization. When a business doesn’t have processes in place to meet their customers’ bill payment expectations and preferences it can result in longer payment cycles and higher operational costs.
A recent study by Amex has shown that 70% of consumers would prefer the convenience of selecting from a list of existing personal payment methods instead of entering their payment information every time – an increase from 62% in 2019 and 61% in 2018. This is bolstered by additional studies that suggest that over 20% of bill payments are made over the telephone when a paying by phone option is offered. Furthermore, in the healthcare industry, a recent study showed that 39% of patients that chose to make payments over the phone did so outside of normal business hours.
The key to an optimized bill payment acceptance strategy is having multiple payment channels available to meet consumer expectations. This means having the tools to receive payments 24/7 both online and over the telephone.
Enabling 24/7 telephone payments does not mean having agents available at all hours of the day, as this would be cost-prohibitive for many businesses. However, automated Pay-By-Phone (IVR Payments), can help businesses to meet the growing consumer expectation of 24/7 availability, increase payment activity, reduce payment delays, and keep operational costs in check.
To meet ever-changing consumer expectations, it’s important to have an omnichannel payment strategy that leverages automation to meet consumer demands, optimizes business processes, and reduces costs while increasing customer satisfaction.