One Reason for E-paying: "I Forgot"

Almost half the people responding to a survey about making last-minute payments by electronic channels say they used those channels because they simply forgot about the bill, according to a survey done for Fort Knox National Company, an e-payment solutions company. Seventy-one percent of those people then make that payment within three days of the bill due date and most of those late-payers (21 percent) wait until the day the bill is due. Another 19 percent wait until after the bill due date but before late fees can be assessed.

Fort Knox says the research shows that consumers may be holding onto their cash until the last minute, avoiding the late fees of $20 and $49 that half the people in the survey said they are facing.

Other key reasons for using e-payment methods at the last minute were cash flow and personal issues such as difficulty managing finances, the survey found. The research also found that more than half the people making last-minute payments use the telephone and 31 percent use the web while only 8 percent use rush delivery mail and 6 percent use walk money transfer or wire services.

Copyright © 2005 Bankers' Hotline. Originally appeared in Bankers' Hotline, Vol. 15, No. 5, 6/05