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| Gartner: Electronic Bill Payment Enrollments Up Since Anthrax Scare |
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STAMFORD, CONN., November 5, 2001 -- Mail safety concerns raised by recent anthrax scares are encouraging consumers and billers to pursue electronic billing and payment channels more aggressively, according to Gartner, Inc. (NYSE: IT and ITB). By the end of 2001, Gartner forecasts that 32 million Americans will view credit card and other statements online, a 60 percent increase over the 20 million who did so at the end of 2000. Gartner expects the number of consumers viewing bills electronically to reach 64 million by year-end 2003.
Although the trend is partly attributable to marketing campaigns and other factors, Gartner clients have reported a 20 percent increase in electronic bill presentment enrollment since the anthrax scare was first reported. "Even without newly emerging mail safety concerns, we have found that electronic billing has finally started to take off in 2001," said Avivah Litan, vice president and research director for Gartner. "One major factor unrelated to recent events is that credit card issuers have been very successful at attracting consumers to online account management by giving them value-added services like daily balances and responsive self-service." According to a recent Gartner survey, consumer preferences differ when choosing how to receive and access bills online. Options for service range from banks' and brokerage firms' sites to popular portals such as America Online, Yahoo! and Quicken.com. More than 48 percent of consumers prefer going to their billers' web sites directly to access and pay bills, while 24 percent prefer to receive a consolidated set of bills at their bank's web site. "The billers have done the best job in providing easy-to-use services, while banks and other service providers who aggregate consumer bills still have a long way to go in providing comparably easy services," said Litan. "Although recent events are providing customers with more reasons to start accessing their bills online, the barriers to getting started are still too high for most consumers." About Gartner, Inc.
Gartner, Inc. is a research and advisory firm that helps more than 11,000 clients understand technology and drive business growth. Gartner's divisions consist of Gartner Research, Gartner Consulting, Gartner Measurement and Gartner Events. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Conn., and has 4,300 associates, including 1,200 research analysts and consultants, in more than 90 locations worldwide. The company achieved fiscal 2001 revenues of $952 million. For more information, visit www.gartner.com.
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Contact: Danielle Westling Gartner 203-316-6754 danielle.westling@gartner.com |
